Living Memories
by slythermallow
Summary: After an evening of drinking Ron tries to keep a drunk and emotional Harry quiet on the way back to Gryffindor Tower but it doesn't last long when they are found arguing in the corridors by Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape. After seeing the teenager so distraught over Lily Snape realises he might be able to help but can they both forgive the past and help each other?
1. Chapter 1

The smell of various food lingered warmly in the air as dinner ended; the tables were cleared, the teachers were retreating to the staff room and the students were free to spend the rest of their Sunday however they wished until curfew. A group of Ravenclaw's had challenged the Hufflepuffs to a snowball fight and a few Slytherin's had followed them out, no doubt to cause trouble, the majority of Gryffindor's had decided to stay inside and go about their own thing.

Fred and George sat huddled in the corner of the great hall flicking through a potions book carefully scanning every ingredient to work out how they would react with others whilst taking notes on their findings. They were trying to create a new potion that would cause the drinker to only speak in riddles for an hour and they were trying eagerly to perfect it for Ron's upcoming birthday.

Snape scanned the students carefully as he left the hall to make his way towards a small gathering that was being held in the staff room, as much as he would rather have a night to himself he had promised Dumbledore to at least come for an hour. He quickly noticed there was something off about the great hall, he soon realised it was the deadly silence coming from the Weasley twins and he silently made his way over to see what they were doing. He quickly noticed the potions book and raised a brow, although they were always up to no good their knowledge was vast when it came to their experiments "I don't think that specific group of potions are covered in the fifth year curriculum" Snape said bluntly sneaking up on them both.

Both of the twins jumped at the unexpected voice but their faces instantly broke into a grin realising it was Snape, although the majority of students were terrified by the potions master the twins had been in trouble that many times they had worked out through various detentions how far they could push the potions master without being hexed. They also had decided that deep down the professor didn't hate them that much.

"We were just widening our knowledge" George said with a faint smile.

"Expanding our minds" Fred added pulling the most innocent look he could.

"Developing our understanding on various components to the arts of potion making" George grinned.

"And why are you doing that?" he asked completely uninterested in their antics.

"To broaden our horizons" Fred smirked.

"To familiarize ourselves with a broader range of conceptions" George added.

"As long as it's not to blow up the school" Snape said sarcastically before turning and walking away, he knew they were up to something but it was almost Christmas, and although he wasn't particularly ecstatic about the holidays he shrugged it off knowing he would work out what they were doing based on what ingredients they ended up asking to use anyway.

Snape caught a glimpse of Harry out the corner of his eye as he went to exit the hall, the boy was sitting alone, watching the Christmas tree carefully, more so the star at the top and he wondered what the boy was thinking of. The Gryffindor table was alive with laughter as they all shared conversations and played happily together and usually he would be at the centre of it all, but tonight Potter didn't seem interested in the games. He shrugged it off knowing the boy probably just missed his family, after all he was only thirteen which is still considerably young to be away from home at Christmas, he scoffed thinking Potter would be the type to miss the likes of Petunia Dursley; snobby, self-centred and rude. He quickly exited the hall to join the mini gathering in the staff room not wasting another thought on what the golden boys issue was today.

. . .

Harry continued to stare up at the tree completely oblivious to Snape's glare, he blinked to force a tear away from his eyes to stop himself from crying. His mind continued to scan over yesterday's events again, Sirius Black was his godfather. He sighed and dropped his head into his hands feeling nothing but shame, his godfather was a cold-hearted killer, he slowly felt the anger rising when he reminded himself of how much he had lost due to one man.

"Are you okay, mate" Ron asked curiously pulling himself up on the table to sit next to Harry.

"Yeah, mate" Harry sighed.

"Missing your folks?" Ron asked and Harry nodded "well there's always a Weasley jumper at ours if you ever want it" he said rolling his eyes at. Harry laughed lightly and looked back up at the twinkling Christmas tree.

"I wonder what my parents thought of Christmas at Hogwarts" Harry said almost to himself hoping to distract himself and Ron from what was really wrong.

"Ask Lupin?" Ron suggested.

Harry shook his head, he knew he could talk to Remus about anything but he couldn't help but think that every time Remus looked at him he just saw James, but a lesser version of James that only reminded him of how much he had lost, deep down he wondered if that was how everybody saw him. "He knows more about my dad and I don't want to upset him, especially because of everything with Black" Harry shrugged and Ron nodded not wanting to push his friend too far.

"Hey, Harry" George whispered and Harry turned instantly "look what we have" he said gesturing Harry should move closer. Both of the boys moved over to the twins as they revealed four bottles of vodka hidden amongst their robes.

"Why do you have that?" Harry asked.

"We're going to celebrate more outside before curfew" Fred answered.

"Why are we celebrating?" Ron asked.

"It's Christmas next week, why not?" George smiled.

"You can't do that" Harry frowned "you'll get in trouble" he said.

"We're not going to get drunk though, just have one or two to celebrate plus we don't plan on getting caught" George explained " you don't have to drink if you don't want to but you're welcome to come"

"I'm going" Ron added.

"Your mum will kill you" Harry said to the three of them and they all shrugged.

"She won't find out" Fred smirked.

"Where did you get it from?" Harry asked.

"Lad in the year above, but that's not important" George said dismissing the questions.

"Don't do it, Harry" Hermione hissed, she must have hard the clinking of the bottles and was promptly making her way over "it's not worth the trouble you'll end up in"

"I don't get why you would want to drink" Harry said shaking his head, the Dursley's weren't huge drinkers other than Uncle Vernon's occasional pint so he had never understood the hype.

"It just makes you really happy and woozy, it's funny honestly" Fred said and Harry nodded, cheering up was what he needed right now, he did remember a time Uncle Vernon had people from work over for wine and he heard lots of laughing coming from the kitchen, it did sound fun. He also remembered Uncle Vernon moaning the next day about how he couldn't remember everything and maybe that was what Harry needed, to forget everything for a while.

"Okay, let's go" Harry said getting up.

"Harry!" Hermione hissed.

"Don't come if you don't want to" he said simply.

"Fine, I won't!" she snapped before storming out the hall back towards Gryffindor tower, she wasn't going to tell on her friends in case they lost any points but she also wasn't going to be part of it.

. . .

A few hours later Fred, George, Ron and Harry all sat around a tree just outside the Forbidden Forest still drinking, both of the twins were hysterically laughing at each other and at Ron, who was still sober after deciding he didn't like the taste of vodka. Harry on the other hand was slurring his words and swaying aimlessly, he quickly dropped the empty bottle onto the grass and dropped his head as it suddenly felt heavier.

"Harry, you've had enough" George lectured waving his finger at the boy who only groaned.

"Potter can't handle his drink" Fred mocked and both of the twins giggled lightly.

"Who can?" George said, his eyes widening with fake shock.

"Let's go back to the castle, Harry" Ron said giving Harry a nudge, he was growing concerned by the second about how quickly his friend had become drunk and the tipsy twins didn't seem concerned.

"I'm Fine" Harry mumbled.

"You don't look it mate, let's go I'm cold" Ron said yanking Harry who pulled away.

"Why do people always think there's something wrong with me!?" Harry shouted getting to his feet "just because what's-his-face is after me and that…man has escaped doesn't mean I'm not fine…because I'm fine!" Harry slurred waving his hand dismissively.

"I know you're fine, I promise" Ron said softly "let's go mate"

"Fine!" Harry shouted.

. . .

Harry stumbled back towards the castle suddenly overwhelmed with feelings of upset, anger and nausea. He was hoping to forget everything that had happened but the drink only made him remember more as the memories spun frantically in his mind. He could feel his chest tightening with the panic over the fact that his emotions felt stronger than normal and he didn't know how to control them; suddenly he just wanted to break down and cry.

"Harry!" Ron shouted catching up with him quickly "stop you're going to get in trouble!" he said, his eyes wide with concern.

"Who cares, Ron?" Harry shouted swinging around to see his friend "because I don't care!" he shouted at Ron who was swaying heavily.

"Let's get you to bed, mate" Ron said softly.

"I'm going to look at the Christmas tree" Harry slurred before turning and continuing to stumble back towards the castle.

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Why do people do anything, Ron?" Harry hissed unsure of the answer himself.

"We'll see it tomorrow, c'mon I don't want expelled" Ron pleaded but Harry was too drunk to care. He didn't truly even want to look at the tree as it only reminded him of how alone he felt, just like every other Christmas it only reminded him of how alone he truly was; he didn't even have the option to go home to a family. He sighed as he felt the tears slowly begin to trickle down his cheeks as they entered the castle.

"Y'know I hate Christmas" he mumbled leaning against a wall trying to make sense of his thoughts "it's just people being happy about nothing"

"It's a time to celebrate" Ron reminded him.

"I have nothing to celebrate, Ron!" Harry screamed "in case you've forgotten there's a man on the loose that wants to kill me and he also happens to be my godfather that betrayed my parents"

"Harry…"

"And I can't even go home for a few weeks to get away from it all because I don't have a home, I don't have anyone" he said kicking over a large plant pot that smashed instantly.

"You have me" Ron said softly moving closer to his now sobbing friend.

. . .

"I think today was a success" Professor McGonagall said as her and Professor Snape made their way down the corridor after the mini party in the staffroom.

"It's not curfew yet, there's plenty of time for trouble" he said simply making her chuckle lightly.

"Ever the optimist, Severus" she smiled.

"Well the Weasley twins have been too quiet for the past few hours" he said knowing well enough the longer the twins remained quiet and in the shadows the worse the prank would be to clean up, McGonagall rolled her eyes in response and he gently scoffed.

"Just leave me alone!" a voice screamed from down the corridor.

"That's Harry" McGonagall said, her voice filled with concern as they broke into a run and made their way towards the shouting.

"You don't understand, Ron!"

"I'm not trying to…"

"Well then why are you talking? Why is everybody always talking!?"

"Mr Potter, what is going on?" McGonagall demanded as they found both the boys arguing. Harry was now slumped on the ground with his knees up to his chest next to the smashed plant pot and Ron seemed desperate to get his friend to stop crying.

"He's just upset, Professor" Ron explained when Harry only continued to sob quietly into his arms. He gulped as his eyes briefly met Snape's, it was obvious he was analysing his words for any lies.

"What about? What's happened?" she demanded.

"I'm not sure, Professor" Ron said innocently quickly realising the amount of trouble they were bound to get in. He gulped loudly at Snape's penetrating glare.

"Are you sure about that, Mr Weasley?" he demanded silkily.

"He's fine, I'll take him back to our room" Ron insisted but Snape instantly held up his hand to stop him from trying to yank the still sobbing boy from the floor, partly because he was worried Harry would stumble into the broken glass, he could smell the vodka and he wasn't stupid.

"I just want left alone" Harry mumbled and Snape rolled his eyes 'ever the dramatic just like James Potter' he thought to himself glaring down at the stubborn boy.

"Go back to your dorm, Mr Weasley" Professor McGonagall instructed.

"But…"

"Now" she demanded sternly and Ron gulped and after taking one final glance at Harry he left quickly.

"Harry, speak to me" she said softly leaning down next to him, she could instantly smell the vodka and she sighed.

"I don't want to speak" Harry sobbed.

"What do you want then?" she asked and Snape scoffed, even in his obviously drunken state the golden boy was going to get what he wanted. His blood quickly began to boil at how entitled the brat was, any other student would have been dragged to a teacher's office by now.

"I want my mum" Harry said simply "I just want my mum"

Snape's eyes grew wide at the boys' confession; he was still pining for Lily and clearly distraught over it. His eyes met Minerva's and she sighed lightly knowing there wasn't much she could do.

"Harry, Lily and James will always be with you" she finally said softly.

"That's just what people say to make you feel better and it doesn't work" he said still hiding his face in his arms.

"I think we should get you to bed" she said putting a hand on his shoulder realising there was no point trying to reason with a drunk, Harry instantly flinched at the unexpected contact and shrugged her off.

Snape raised a brow at how quickly Harry flinched; although Professor McGonagall seemed oblivious he had flinched defensively, as if he expected the touch to cause him pain. "You can't lie on the floor all night" Snape said simply.

"What do you care?" Harry mumbled still not looking up.

Snape instantly opened his mouth to strike but McGonagall held her hand up shooting him a warning look, he quickly closed his mouth and sighed realising he wasn't winning this one.

"Is anything else upsetting you, Harry?" she asked "you're not normally like this"

"It's one thing after another because I'm a jinx" he slurred.

"Are you talking about Sirius Black?" she asked and he instantly looked up, his eyes puffy and blood shot from crying. "Come sit down and we'll talk about it?" she said gesturing towards her office and Harry shook his head, partly because he was now unable to get off the floor.

"I want to stay here" he insisted.

"Okay" she said simply.

"He handed them over to Voldemort" Harry said as if the Professor's didn't already know.

"I know, Harry" McGonagall said.

"And he was my godfather" Harry gasped before dropping his head back into his arms "he was supposed to look after me"

"Godfather or not once he is back in Azkaban you'll never have to think of him again" she reassured him.

"He's taken everything from me" Harry said "more than just my parents"

"What do you mean?" she asked not quite understanding.

"My Dad and Professor Lupin were friends so he can tell me about my dad, but I don't know any of my mums' friends, he was supposed to tell me those things because he would have been close to them both" he said and soon he was crying again.

"I can tell you about your mum" she offered but he instantly shook his head "and Professor Lupin knew her very well".

"I want to know things like her favourite food, or what her childhood was like" he explained "I want to know what she did for fun outside of school and I want to see photos and hear stories and I can't because he's taken that from me"

"I don't know the answer to those, Harry" she said simply looking over at Snape who was now looking lost in thought, she sighed knowing the man wouldn't be very willing to help and turned her attention back to the sobbing child "but I'm sure if we try we can find other ways to make you feel better"

"I just want my mum" he mumbled looking up again.

Snape's held his breath completely shocked about what he was hearing but unsure of how to help. He scolded himself knowing he had failed Lily. Maybe if he had been more open with the boy like the other teachers had he could have shared his stories the same as they had and maybe have prevented this entire situation but he had ruined that now, the teen hated him. He had managed multiple times to physically protect the boy but emotionally he had been doing nothing but blocking him out. He watched as Professor McGonagall pulled an unwilling Harry into a hug, Harry instantly frowned but soon stopped crying at the comfort.

"I don't feel well" he mumbled getting to his feet.

"That will be the alcohol, Potter" Snape said finally breaking his silence.

"Obviously" Harry said glaring defensively at the potions master "I bet you're enjoying this" Harry spat now growing angry in his drunken state.

"Harry" Professor McGonagall warned.

"Well he hates me, my dad and probably my mum as well, he'll be taking Black to the Leaky Cauldron for a pint" he slurred.

"That's enough!" McGonagall said raising her voice slightly and he instantly shut up realising he had gone too far. He turned his attention to Snape fully expecting the man to kill him but the Professor looked more surprised than angry.

Snape raised a brow knowing how wrong the boy was but he didn't say anything, although the boys' actions were downright irresponsible he sighed knowing it was partly their fault for not offering him enough support in the first place. "I think we should take you to my quarters and sober you up" Snape said simply and McGonagall looked curiously at his now calm nature.

"No, you'll cook me" Harry said and to his surprise Snape let out a small laugh "oh yeah, funny" Harry said sarcastically before stumbling into the wall.

"Come on, Potter" he said and Harry froze.

"I'm not coming" he said, his voice now filled with concern as he looked over at Professor McGonagall for backup. Snape instantly rolled his eyes at the typical Gryffindor mannerisms, as bold as they could be they were good at hiding behind their head of house when need be, especially when it came to him.

"I'm coming too, Harry" Professor McGonagall said realising the fear of being left with the now insulted potions master, who she was silently praising for holding his temper.

"I need to be sick" Harry mumbled before throwing up all over himself.

"Charming" Snape said quickly performing a cleaning charm.

"What's wrong with me?" Harry asked.

"You're drunk, Potter, I thought you'd realised that" Snape sighed.

"But I thought it made you happy"

"Not always, come on now" Snape said almost gently realising the teen didn't fully understand what it meant to get drunk, he wondered how much of a sheltered life Harry had been living outside of school.

"Who told you that?" Professor McGonagall asked stopping them once more.

"The…people" Harry stopped himself before accidentally telling on the twins.

"What people" Snape asked.

"Just some people" he slurred.

"The Weasley twins" he said simply.

"How did you know that?" Harry gasped.

"I didn't but I do now" he said simply.

"You tricked me!" Harry shouted.

"Harry?" Professor Lupin asked as he made his way down the same corridor, he instantly noticed Harry looked like he was about to smack Professor Snape "what's happened?" he asked looking at the potions master defensively.

"I'm a failure, Sir" Harry slurred.

"Is he drunk?" he asked completely shocked at the other professors who both nodded.

"It was supposed to make me happy, but I'm just sad and smell bad"

"We're taking him to my quarters" Snape said firmly.

"Why? He can come to mines" Remus insisted protectively standing in front of Harry.

"Mines are closer" Snape reminded him simply.

"I don't care, he's James son so that makes him my responsibility"

"He's no more your responsibility than he is mines, Remus" Snape warned and Remus sighed knowing the potions master was right.

"It's okay, he promised not to cook me" Harry reassured Professor Lupin who just eyed him with concern.

"That I did, Potter" Snape said absently, he consciously backed off and let Remus guide Harry to avoid any more fighting, it had always been obvious Remus would end up growing protective over Harry and now it was showing.

With great effort the Professors managed to guide Harry to the dungeons only banging into the occasional wall. Harry slurred the entire time about how stupid he was and that even his owl wasn't going to want to be his friend anymore.

"I just want a normal school year with no freaky stones, giant snakes or escaped loons" he mumbled.

"Don't we all, Potter?" Snape said helping Remus steady him.

Harry quickly collapsed on Snape's sofa and closed his eyes "not so fast, Potter" he said and Harry's eyes instantly shot open "drink this" he said handing the boy a glass of water.

"What is it?" Harry frowned.

"Water" he said simply before heading into the kitchen.

"Where's he going?" Harry asked curiously.

"Harry" Remus warned him "be quiet and drink your water"

Snape returned a few minutes later with some buttered bread "It will soak up the alcohol and you'll feel less sick in the morning" he explained.

"How long will I feel sick for?" Harry asked curiously "nobody told me about that part" he mumbled to himself.

"A few hours" he said simply.

Snape and Lupin quickly followed McGonagall into the kitchen leaving Harry to eat his bread, he watched as she dropped her head into her hands and sighed. "I don't know what to do with him" she admitted simply "the problems he has I can't fix" she said.

"What's this all about?" Remus asked still in the dark.

"He misses Lily and he's blaming Black for it" McGonagall explained.

"Well you can't blame him" he replied dryly.

"He feels Sirius should have been the one to tell him stories of his mother because he knew her well" she continued to explain.

"He knew her no better than I did" Remus said frowning "why doesn't he just ask you?" he asked looking at Snape.

Snape sighed but didn't say anything, he was feeling completely conflicted about the entire situation; he had never particularly liked Harry due to him being the son of James but he had never really tried to get to know the child, but with how things between him and Lily ended would she want him to have a relationship with her son? Overall he felt protective of the boy, he had never thought of how Harry must have been affected with not having parents. He also knew by Harry's drunken hostility the teen didn't want to be anywhere near him and he knew deep down he had caused that.

"I also don't know where to put him tonight, he can't go back to the tower" Professor McGonagall said changing the subject when she noticed Snape's empty eyes filling with pain.

"Just leave him on the sofa?" Snape suggested and she raised a brow "well if he's here he's not causing any more trouble and he's safer if he ends up throwing up again" he explained.

"On your sofa, Severus?" she asked completely shocked.

"It's the easiest option, Minerva, it would take a lot to move him again" he said simply.

"I don't know" she said shaking her head "he's fragile right now"

"I'm not going to hurt him" Snape scoffed.

"It's no secret your tongue has always been sharp when it comes to Harry" she said with a slightly defensive tone.

"That's unfair" Snape said simply but he quickly realised by the witches' expression that it wasn't up for discussion.

"He can stay, but I will be the one handing out punishments and floo me as soon as he wakes up tomorrow morning" she said and he nodded.

"As a Potter family friend that understands the situation I would like to be present" Remus said and Snape rolled his eyes lightly.

"Very well, Remus" McGonagall replied.

They made their way back into the living room to find Harry completely passed out on the sofa with the bread still in his hand. McGonagall shook her head lightly before making her way to the floo with Professor Lupin "I'll see you in the morning" she said simply and Snape nodded.

He watched the others leave before turning his attention back to Harry, he was fast asleep mumbling about snitches. Gently he took the blanket from the back of the sofa and dropped it over him and removed the piece of bread from the boys hand "I'm sorry I failed you, Harry" he whispered before leaving a fresh glass of water next to him and heading towards his own bed needing to put a room between himself and Harry to digest his conflicting emotions.

Severus lay wide awake in bed and his thoughts quickly turned back to his own Hogwarts days and being in the company of James Potter, he could still feel every hex and hit he had taken over the years if he concentrated hard enough and suddenly he felt small again. He sighed heavily as his mind turned to the Marauders as a whole and he began comparing them to Harry and his friends and he soon realised there wasn't much in way of similarities, the more he thought about it Harry was nothing like James; other than the love for fame the boy wasn't a bully and got on with the likes of Neville Longbottom. The friends Harry also kept didn't cause half as much trouble as the Marauders did and they always seemed to be the first to jump in to defend people. He sighed closing his eyes realising he wouldn't work it out overnight.

 **So I decided to start writing something new! This was an idea I couldn't get out of my head and I had to write it to end the nagging sensation. I'm about 4 chapters into this so far and I'm absolutely loving how the relationships are growing and I couldn't help but want to share it! As of right now I don't know how long it will be so I'm just going to see where it goes. "An Unlikely Family" is still my main focus but I enjoy writing more than one thing at a time so if I get writers block I can just work on the other : )**

 **Review if you can.**


	2. Chapter 2

" _Get in here, Potter!" Uncle Vernon screamed from downstairs._

 _Harry sighed heavily and desperately tried to ignore the feeling of panic rising in his stomach "I'm coming" he called back weakly. As he made his way downstairs he mentally began to prepare himself for whatever he was about to face, his body still ached from yesterday when Dudley blamed him for drinking the rest of the milk and Uncle Vernon got angry, he flinched at the memory._

 _Uncle Vernon's enormous frame stood impatiently in the kitchen as Harry entered "took your time, you little brat" he hissed but Harry didn't reply, he knew better than to speak back. "Why aren't the dishes done?" he demanded._

 _Harry frowned lightly, he had cleaned up the lunch dishes only an hour ago but after a quick glance at the sink he noticed another plate and some cutlery "I did do the dishes" Harry stuttered "they must be new ones" he explained but Uncle Vernon scoffed, even though it was obvious Dudley had helped himself to a second lunch he needed to take his bad day out on something._

" _Wash the dishes and go upstairs, I'll be up in a minute" he said simply._

" _No, please" Harry choked knowing what that meant "I would have cleaned them if I knew they were there"_

" _So you're blaming us?" Uncle Vernon bellowed._

" _No!"_

" _Don't you raise your voice at me" Uncle Vernon shouted and there was a small crack as his hand made contact with the side of Harry's face._

 _Harry cried out as Uncle Vernon grabbed him and began to drag him from the room back up to his room. Hedwig screeched as the door collided with the wall before slamming shut._

" _After everything we have sacrificed for you" Uncle Vernon began whilst removing his belt "you can't even do some basic chores you ungrateful little brat" he said before shoving Harry hard into the bed._

 _. . ._

Severus woke sharply from a scream in the living room and he frowned slightly before remembering the drunk teen that had taken up residence on his sofa. Quickly he grabbed his wand from the bedside table and ran into the living room expecting to find some type of immediate threat. He stopped still when he noticed all the pillows and the blanket had been thrown from the sofa and the boy was thrashing violently.

"I didn't mean to!" Harry cried "it hurts, stop!"

"Harry, wake up" Snape said loudly hoping the boy would hear him. Quickly he made his way over to the sofa and began to shake the boy softly but it only made Harry scream out louder "Harry!" he shouted.

"Uncle please, I won't do it again" he whined through tears.

"It's okay, you're safe" Snape said softer this time hoping a gentle tone might distract the boy and surprisingly it did "wake up, it's okay" he said softly.

Harry stirred and felt his chest tighten as he began to leave the nightmare behind, slowly he opened his eyes and it only made his chest tighten further. He looked around at the dark, unfamiliar surroundings and realised he had absolutely no idea where he was or what was happening; he wasn't in his cupboard or his bedroom. Harry whined lightly as his breathing grew hoarse and panicked at not knowing where he was. Suddenly his eyes met eyes he had seen before but these eyes didn't settle him "don't hurt me" he begged realising he was in the company of Snape.

"I'm not going to hurt you, just breathe" Snape said quietly.

"No, don't hurt me, I didn't do anything I promise" Harry rambled.

"I'll get Professor Lupin" Snape said and he was surprised that Harry began to frantically shake his head.

"No, no…he can't know" he gasped "I don't want him…to think I'm…stupid"

"You need to relax then" Snape said sitting down next to him "focus on breathing in and out"

"I can't" Harry cried softly through the panic "Sir, help" he gasped not understanding why his lungs were betraying him.

"Lolly" Snape called and suddenly a small house elf appeared "get a calming draught" he ordered and the small elf nodded before vanishing.

"I'm going to die" Harry gasped.

"You're not dying, you're having a panic attack" Snape said gently but assertively "you'll feel okay in a few minutes, just focus on breathing" he reassured Harry who still looked lost for what to do.

"Please don't tell anyone, Sir" he cried out and Snape instantly frowned as the boys' lips developed a blue shimmer.

"Potter, you need to relax and breathe" he repeated.

"I can't" Harry cried.

Snape sighed and quickly pulled Harry into his chest so that Harry's back was to him, Harry cried out at the sudden movement but Snape ignored him and continued to hold him securely to stop him from lashing out.

"Close your eyes and focus on my breathing" he said gently.

"I don't know how" Harry replied.

Snape exaggerated his breathing so that Harry could recognise it and Harry quickly began to try and copy it through desperate sobs.

"You're doing good, Harry" Snape reassured him remembering how his mother's reassurance always helped him if he was panicked. After a moment Harry's breathing had relaxed slightly and the house elf appeared with a small vial. Snape opened the vial quickly and held it to Harry's lips "drink" he ordered and Harry obliged.

Harry continued to listen to Snape's breathing to try and control his own for a further few minutes completely forgetting this was Snape he was now beginning to fall asleep on as the potion and exhaustion began to take effect. Surprisingly in his slightly confused, dazed state he felt safe in his current company and all he cared about was making sure he wasn't left alone with his thoughts any time soon, he clung to the Professor's robes as he began to drift in and out of sleep.

Snape listened as Harry's breathing fully settled and he could tell the Gryffindor had fallen back asleep, he looked up at the clock above the fireplace and sighed seeing it was only 5am. He decided not to move too quickly and to let Harry fall into a deeper sleep before moving from under him. He had never let another person this close to him before and he frowned at how strange it was feeling the weight of someone's head against his chest. He quickly became aware of Harry's balled up fists that were still clenching onto his robes and he noted how strange it felt so be someone's comfort even if Harry wasn't aware. Instinctively he moved a stray piece of Harry's hair out of his face and allowed the alien emotions to wash over him unsure of what Lily would think.

After twenty minutes of staying still Severus gently began to move Harry but it only caused Harry to stir heavily and he sighed not quite ready for the student to wake up yet, he hadn't mentally prepared how they were going to discuss the nights events and he knew Harry was likely to lash out defensively and he didn't want to wake the entire castle up. "Accio book" he whispered and the book that was on the coffee table made its way into his hand, he opened it at the marked page and began to read to occupy his mind.

. . .

An hour later and Snape had almost forgotten the sleeping teen and was fully focused on his book when he felt the teen begin to wriggle; he peered out from the side of his book as Harry mumbled lightly to himself. Slowly Harry's eyes began to open and the Professor braced himself for a fight but surprisingly Harry only sat up and looked quietly around the room allowing any memories he had of the night before, which wasn't many, to come flooding back.

"How are you feeling?" Snape finally asked when he realised Harry wasn't going to speak.

"Sir?" Harry asked completely confused at his surroundings but more so the fact he was cuddled into Snape who hadn't killed him for doing so "what's happening?" he finally asked subconsciously moving away from the professor.

"Do you remember last night?" Snape asked simply allowing Harry to process his surroundings.

Harry hesitated remembering drinking and then arguing with Ron and the Professor's "I was drinking vodka and then shouting at Ron" he finally mumbled slightly embarrassed about the whole ordeal.

"Do you remember having a nightmare?" Snape asked but Harry just shook his head, everything still felt like a massive blur but he knew himself well enough to at least know roughly what the nightmare would be about. "You had me very worried"

"Please don't tell anyone" Harry replied in an almost whisper.

"Why don't you take a shower and freshen up and then we can talk more over breakfast?" Snape suggested completely disregarding Professor McGonagall's request, they both needed time to think.

The Professor quickly showed Harry into the guest bedroom and directed him to the en-suite before making his way to his own room to shower. He sighed heavily happy to have his personal space back before stepping into the shower and letting the hot water run over him, his mind turned to Lily and he only hoped she wouldn't have rejected his attempts to help Harry through his panic last night.

. . .

Harry stepped back into the guest bedroom feeling a lot fresher after washing but he still couldn't process his thoughts, why did he end up in the dungeon of all places? Did anybody even know he was here?

Quickly he made his way into the kitchen where he found Snape preparing breakfast, surprisingly Snape seemed to be preparing everything the muggle way. "Can I help?" Harry asked awkwardly not sure of what to do with himself, at his relatives he always made the food and he felt almost guilty at the idea of leaving the professor to do it.

"I don't think either of us wants food poisoning" Snape said simply, but there was no attack in his comment, more an observation at Harry's age.

"I know how to cook, Sir" Harry said simply.

"Then you can make the scrambled eggs, I'm terrible at those" he said dismissively and Harry quickly made his way over and stood next to the Professor who was making bacon and sausage.

Severus watched as Harry began to rummage around for the pan he was looking for "do you want them fluffy?" Harry asked awkwardly, at home he had to know exactly how everybody liked everything because if Uncle Vernon had a bad breakfast Harry had a bad day.

"Make them however you want" Snape replied simply, he wasn't a picky eater and if he was honest he knew nothing about different ways to make scrambled egg. He watched curiously as Harry began to work, his movements were precise and he mixed the ingredients quickly and carefully. Soon the eggs were plated up and Harry instructively pressed the switch on the kettle and Snape raised a brow at how robotic Harry looked in the kitchen.

"I…don't know how you take your coffee" Harry said awkwardly looking away.

"It's okay, I'll make it in a minute" Snape said gesturing Harry should sit but to his surprise Harry only watched him with confusion.

"I know how to make coffee" Harry offered simply.

"I don't deny it, but you're not my slave" he said and again Harry looked away unsure of what to do with himself "what do you want to drink?" Snape asked and Harry shrugged.

"Water, please" he finally said.

"Wouldn't you prefer pumpkin juice?" Snape asked.

"I like water" he answered simply, he only ever drank water at home so the nice drinks weren't wasted on him.

"If you insist" Snape replied not wanting to push the matter "if you could take the food to the table I'll be through with the drinks" he said and Harry nodded quickly before collecting their plates and retreating.

Harry sat nervously at the table with the two plates of food, he was more nervous that Snape hadn't thrown him out and seemed to be treating him with more patience than most people and it only made him wonder what had happened during his nightmare since it was obvious Snape was very much present. He watched carefully as the professor entered with a tray holding a cup of coffee, a glass of water and a glass of pumpkin juice.

"I know you wanted water but in case you change your mind" he said putting both the glasses down next to Harry, he had quickly realised whilst filling the glass with water that all he ever saw Harry drink was pumpkin juice and the teen was probably worried about using up his drinks.

"Thank you, Sir" Harry said in an almost whisper.

"You can eat, Harry" Snape said simply when Harry continued to look at the food instead of eating it. Harry nodded and began to cut into the sausages but didn't make a move to look up or speak to the professor. "We need to talk about last night" Snape began.

"I was stupid to drink and I'll take the consequences" Harry said simply, he knew he was going to be in massive trouble but he didn't care, it wasn't like he had anybody to truly disappoint, as long as he was alive to fight in the war nothing else mattered.

"Professor McGonagall will talk about that with you later" Snape said dismissing the alcohol "I want to talk about your nightmare" he explained and Harry only nodded not making any attempt to tell Snape anything "do you have nightmares often?" he asked.

"Sir, it really doesn't matter" Harry sighed.

"Harry, you were very distressed and nobody should have to go through that, especially on a regular basis" Snape said hoping to coax the boy into talking.

"It's not that regular"

"How often then?" Snape asked again.

"Once or twice a week" he said looking down at his food, suddenly he felt too sick to eat.

Snape flinched at how often the boy must wake up panicked and in distress and he wondered how nobody had noticed before "does Ron know?" he asked.

Harry shook his head softly "I put up silencing spells after I woke the dorm up once in first year" he began to explain "I told them it was just because I was getting my head round being the-boy-who-lived and they didn't think anything of it…"

"But you forgot to put any charms up last night because you passed out" Snape said filling in the blanks and Harry nodded. "In your dream, you begged your Uncle to stop" Snape prompted.

"Sir, I don't want to talk about it" Harry choked suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable.

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do because it helps" Snape replied simply before taking a sip of his coffee. "Harry, I know we've never seen eye to eye but I still have a duty of care and I'm concerned about your home life" he explained "I feel the school might not have been the only people who haven't been supporting you"

"I'm okay" Harry insisted.

"Last night when Professor McGonagall tried to comfort you, you flinched as if she was going to strike you" Snape informed him.

"I was drunk" Harry blurted out, but even he knew his argument was weak.

"I know that much" Snape said simply "you know I won't let it go so you're meanwhile telling me" he said.

"There's honestly nothing to tell, I don't remember the dream otherwise I would explain it" Harry said calmly, almost calm enough that Snape could possibly believe him.

"If you insist but I'm always here if you decide there's anything else you feel I, or the school could help with or if you need somebody to talk to in confidence"

"So you wouldn't tell anyone?" Harry asked and Snape shook his head, he took a breath willing himself to tell Snape until he remembered, _this is Snape_. "Will you tell the Dursley's and the Weasley's we were drinking?" he asked now more worried about the consequences back home.

"Do you think I should?" he asked curiously and Harry instantly shook his head "why not?" he prompted.

"Because…because they'll" Harry said begging himself to admit how cruel they could be but suddenly he had lost his voice "I won't do it again so there's no need to" he insisted.

"As your guardians they will need to be told because it risked your safety" Snape said simply.

"Please, Sir" Harry said eying the professor warily "I honestly won't do it again, I promise"

Snape watched intently at the fear growing in Harry's expression, but it was different to other students that had the school contact their parents, normally it was a sulky, annoyed attitude they were greeted with but Harry seemed genuinely terrified. "If there's anything you feel you need to tell me about your relatives I will listen" Snape offered but Harry quickly shook his head, the Dursley's had six months to calm down although Harry knew six years wouldn't be enough.

. . .

An few hours later there was a meeting held in Professor McGonagall's office to discuss the incident. Professor McGonagall, Lupin, Snape and even Dumbledore all sat around a large table while Harry sunk into his seat desperate for the floorboards to suck him up.

"Mr Potter, I'm glad to see you've returned to your right frame of mind" Professor McGonagall said, although there was no malice in her voice. Harry nodded lightly fiddling with his fingers as a way to distract himself. "Now I have spoken to the other professors regarding the best course of action" she said and Harry nodded, he had been left alone for over an hour while they discussed the incident.

"Will I be expelled, Miss?" Harry asked and to his relief she shook her head.

"We have decided you will spend the next two Friday and Saturday evenings in detention, since those are the nights people are more prone to drink you will be kept away from your peers until bed time on those evenings" she said and Harry nodded "you'll be having those with Professor Snape" she added and Harry nodded numbly, given Snape's recent actions he wasn't any angrier about having detention with him.

"We also expect you to spend the rest of today writing an essay on the dangers of alcohol, you can do that wherever you wish but it is due on my desk at 8pm" she said and again Harry nodded just grateful he wasn't to be expelled.

"We will also be deducting 20 house points from yourself as well as the three Weasley's who have all owned up to their actions" she said and Harry sighed lightly, they were going to hate him.

"Will they be in detention with me?" Harry asked.

"No, they will all serve detention next Monday through to Friday with me" she said and Harry frowned lightly, why were they getting it easier? "For the next two weeks you will also only be allowed your broom for training and matches" she said.

"Yes, miss" he sighed.

"Harry, I cannot stress enough how much danger you put yourself in last night, the Weasley twins have owned up to how much you all drank and you're lucky not be in St Mungo's having your stomach pumped" she said shaking her head.

"I am sorry" he sighed.

"We want to make it very clear to you that if you feel like that again or you need one of us you can come and talk to any of us" she said.

"I know" Harry mumbled almost to himself.

"Do you feel those punishments are fair?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Are you going to tell the Durlsey's?" Harry asked nervously not interested in the punishments.

"Professor Snape has convinced us they don't need to be told on this occasional but that in the future we will be informing them urgently" she said and Harry looked wide eyed over at the professor completely shocked that Snape had heard his silent pleas, Snape however remained his composed self and pretended not to noticed the shocked eyes watching him.

"Well I think Harry has heard enough of our lectures" Dumbledore said speaking up for the first time, he had seen many drunk students and he wasn't overly concerned about a weekend bender that got out of hand "go get some lunch, my boy" he said simply offering Harry a warm smile and Harry found himself smiling back softly, he loved how calm and kind Dumbledore had always been with him.

. . .

"You're still alive then, Potter?" Draco spat as Harry entered the great hall. All heads turned to face him, in one night there were rumours that he had died from alcohol poisoning or that he had been kidnapped by death eaters.

"Evidently" Harry said simply making his way to the Gryffindor table.

"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"What happened to you?" Ron demanded when Harry took his seat, Harry could tell instantly Ron wasn't happy about his disappearing act or the fact he had gotten caught "where did you spend last night?"

"Snape's sofa" Harry whispered slightly embarrassed.

"You what?!" Ron shouted immediately drawing attention to them.

"Harry!" Hermione gasped shocked.

Harry looked up to see all of the professors looking down at them waiting for a fight to break out "I don't want to talk about it" Harry said simply. Luckily it was Sunday so he didn't have to think about his detentions for a while and he just had to avoid Snape outside them till he forgot about the nightmare.

"Are you in big trouble?" Ron prodded.

"Kind of I have detention for the next two weekends with Snape, I have to write an essay and I'm not allowed my broom but that's it" Harry said.

"That's not too bad considering but I feel bad you've got to have it with Snape" Ron said "we have ours with McGonagall" Ron said sounding slightly relieved and Harry rolled his eyes at how much easier they had it.

"Not too bad! You're lucky to still be here!" Hermione butted in loudly.

"Just leave it, Hermione" Ron snapped.

"Do you have to write an essay?" Harry asked ignoring Hermione's dramatics.

"Yeah, by tonight" Ron replied rolling his eyes "and I wasn't even drunk"

"What were you doing last night, Potter? Date with a dementor?" Draco asked and Crabbe and Goyle offered a supportive snigger.

"Grow up, Draco, you're getting boring now" Harry said simply not looking back at the Slytherin who was frowning at the lack of retaliation.

"At least I get to grow up, unlike Hagrid's latest filthy pet" he taunted.

"Shut up, Malfoy" Ron said turning back to face him.

"Nobody is interested, Draco" Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"Maybe they'll clean the entire school of vermin and put you down too" he sniggered at Hermione.

"Don't push me Malfoy" Harry warned finally turning around to face the Slytherin.

"Or what?" he asked raising a brow "the dementors are right outside, Potter, they'll sort you out"

"Will they be sorting us out too?" Fred said as he arrived with George and stood defensively beside Harry.

"And us?" Ginny asked turning around.

"Or even us?" Seamus said from the opposite end of the table and Draco looked behind Harry to see him standing angrily with Neville and Dean "leave Harry alone, Draco" he spat.

"What are you going to do, set me on fire?" Draco hissed.

"He probably will, Mr Malfoy so I wouldn't push him if I were you" Dumbledore said having come down from the teachers table to break up the fight. "I think it's about time you left, Mr Malfoy" he said simply.

"I've not finished my lunch!" Draco protested.

"Take it with you" Dumbledore said softly.

"I think I've gone off my food anyway" he spat looking at Hermione "come on Crabbe, Goyle" he snapped before they scurried out of the hall.

. . .

Later that night Harry woke with a gasp, he looked around the room to see the other boys were still fast asleep and although he knew he was safe at Hogwarts he couldn't settle his mind. He gasped heavily as his chest tightened again and he panicked as the breath was knocked from his body. Silently he gasped for breath as he got to his feet and felt the warm buzz as he passed the silencing charm wards.

Quickly he shook Ron still gasping for breath "what is it, Harry?" Ron mumbled.

"Can't breathe" Harry gasped "I'm going to die" he cried and instantly the other boys started to stir.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Ron asked sitting up and using his wand to light them further "is it, Voldemort?"

"Please, help" Harry gasped again desperately pleading he wouldn't wake the others.

"I'll get McGonagall" he said getting to his feet.

"No" Harry cried not wanting anybody else involved "Snape" he said.

Ron didn't hesitate but left the room and ran quickly towards the dungeons unsure of why Harry wanted Snape or if he would even make it back alive but right now that didn't matter. Mrs Norris hissed and tried to block his path as he reached the steps to the dungeons. "Move stupid cat" he snapped before jumping over her and running downstairs.

As loud as he could Ron banged on the heavy door hoping the professor would hear him "Professor!" he called out and after a minute of banging the door swung open and Snape stood angrily in the doorway.

"Somebody better be dying, Weasley" he said grimly.

"Harry can't breathe… " Ron started and before he could explain Snape broke into a run and made his way towards Gryffindor tower. "Wait for me!" Ron shouted before sprinting to catch up with the professor.

"Students out of bed!" Filch announced angrily as the professor ran by.

"He's with me, leave him" Snape demanded but didn't look back. Within seconds he made his way into the boys' room and set a silencing charm on himself and Harry, quickly he sat Harry back down on the bed and sat beside him.

"Harry, you're going to be okay" Snape said softly and Harry nodded lightly "breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth" he said and he watched patiently as Harry tried to control his breathing, he put his arm gently around Harry who instantly relaxed into him and closed his eyes still gasping slightly.

Ron stood in the doorway completely bewildered about what was going on, suddenly he felt like an outsider as he watched Snape instantly know what to do and he could tell by the man's immediate actions he had dealt with it before. "Is he okay, Sir?" Ron asked quietly and Snape nodded lightly but didn't take his eyes off Harry.

Eventually Harry began to relax and Snape listened quietly as his breathing calmed down and the tension left his body "I'm sorry, Sir" Harry mumbled.

"Do you think you can go back to sleep?" Snape asked but Harry only shook his head, suddenly he was too embarrassed to face Ron and too distraught to let Snape go, as unlikely as it seemed Snape felt like the only adult who had ever gone out his way to look after him. "Do you want to come down to the dungeon?" he asked and Harry nodded lightly.

After a few moments Snape let Harry go and they both stood, Harry smiled weakly at Ron who was now looking hurt and confused at clearly being kept in the dark, as far as he had known they hated Snape and nothing had changed.

"Don't mention this to anyone" Snape said and Ron nodded lightly unsure of what to say. Snape lifted the silencing charm and guided Harry out of his room down towards the dungeon.

. . .

Snape sat opposite Harry on the other sofa and watched as the teens empty green eyes grew tired, he had never truly looked long enough to see Harry was run down, he had bags under his eyes and frown lines and it made his short attention span in potions make a lot more sense. He sighed knowing the conversation they were about to have was bound to be tough but he moved across the room and picked up a large black book from the book shelf before sitting back down.

"I think we should have a chat" Snape said simply taking a sip of his coffee and Harry nodded knowing he was best to get it over with. "That night you were drunk, do you remember what you wanted to know about your mum?" he asked and Harry shrugged completely caught off guard, he was expecting Snape to prod into his home life further.

"It's not like I'll ever find out, Sir" he said dismissing the conversation.

"Your mums favourite food was chips and cheese, but sometimes she did tend to favour anything with chicken; chicken nuggets, roast chicken, chicken hotpot" he listed as Harry watched him, his eyes filled with confusion "she was raised by muggles in a perfectly nice area, her parents were lovely and she adored them, they were very accepting of the wizarding world and even tried some chocolate frogs once. When your mum was younger she loved drawing, she was always asking people to sit still so she could try and draw portraits of them and when she got older she developed a love for writing, especially poems and short stories about magic" he said handing Harry the book he had been holding tightly.

"I don't understand" Harry muttered completely bewildered at Snape's rambling.

Snape sighed lightly unsure of what to say and ran his fingers through his hair lost for what to do; he had never really planned on having this conversation with Harry or speaking of Lily again.

Harry watched the potion master carefully and he could tell the man was hurting and deep down he knew he wasn't lying "You knew my mum?" Harry whispered completely shocked "you actually knew her?"

"She was my best friend and I loved her dearly" Snape said simply.

"So you actually knew her?" he asked again and Snape nodded "why didn't you tell me sooner?" Harry asked.

"We've never seen eye to eye and I assumed somebody in your life who was closer to her and you would have told you all the parts of her life you seem to be missing, maybe your aunt perhaps"

"She hates my mum and me" Harry scoffed.

"That doesn't surprise me" Snape said simply.

"That's why I'm here all the way through the school year, because they like to get rid of me" he said simply before turning his attention back to the book.

He opened the book to the first page 'This book is property of Lily Evans and Severus Snape aged 10. You're not allowed to read it." Harry looked up at Snape was surprisingly smiling lightly. "It's okay, you can read it"

Harry quickly opened to the next page, it was a photo of Snape and Lily by a large colourful tree, it had both their names engraved in it and they were smiling widely. "We would always meet at that tree, it was pretty much equal

walking distance from both our houses so it became the designated meeting point, Lily decided to carve our names into it so that when we got older we'd always have it to look back on, she was sentimental that way" he said and Harry listened intently completely forgetting the man sitting next to him was Severus Snape.

"Is it still there?" he asked curiously.

"I'm not sure" he said simply.

"Do you not like going there now?" Harry asked looking up at the potions master, his eyes filled with unanswered questions.

"It's not felt right for a long time" he said honestly.

Harry nodded and turned to the next page. 'Today Severus and I went down to the river, I wanted to look for frogs and Severus reluctantly tagged along but refused to let me touch any of them in case they were poisonous. We found four frogs in total, one of which was the size of a fist! Petunia found us and began calling us names again, Severus accidentally caused an old bird's nest to fall and hit her on the head, she ran away screaming but mum and dad only laughed. I love magic.'

Harry giggled lightly at the story "how did you know the spell?" he asked looking up at the professor again "to make the nest fall?" he clarified.

"It was accidental magic, although if I had known a spell I'd have dropped a nest on her head long before" he said frowning lightly at the memory of Petunia.

Harry laughed lightly at the professors obvious dislike for his aunt "I'm guessing she was just as vile back then" Harry said almost to himself as he continued to flick through the book, it was filled to bursting point with photos of both Lily and Severus all the way up until early high school, he smiled widely to himself finally feeling as though he had gotten to know his mum a little bit better and he felt warm at how much closer she felt now.

"Thank you, sir" Harry said looking up at the professor.

"You don't have to thank me" he said simply.

"I do, it's really made me feel better"

"Harry" the professor sighed clasping his fingers together and leaning forward "I knew your mum well enough to know that if something was troubling you or causing you unnecessary pain she would want you to seek help with it" he said and to his surprise Harry nodded "both of your parents loved you more than love itself and it would tear them apart to see you like this, there are people here that want to help you but you have to let us"

"Maybe I could just tell you for now?" Harry blurted out.

Severus raised a brow at the unexpected trust the student was offering him and he nodded lightly "I won't tell anyone and I will help however I can" he said simply and Harry nodded lightly. "Is your Uncle cruel?" Snape asked.

"All the time" Harry answered shyly "I'm always in trouble but I don't mean to be" he explained.

"What kind of trouble do you get in outside of school?" Snape asked willing the teen to explain further.

"Sometimes Dudley will make a mess in the kitchen and I won't notice in time to clean it up and then Uncle Vernon gets mad or even if he has a bad day knowing he comes home to me makes him angry and I get punished for that too" Harry said knowing the list of things he did wrong were too long to list.

"What does he do to punish you?" Snape asked and waited patiently as Harry's eyes grew dark with the memories of past events "you've done nothing wrong and you have nothing to be ashamed of" Snape said patiently.

"Mostly he hits me" Harry said simply.

"With his hand?" Snape asked and Harry frowned "I have to understand fully or I can't offer the best support" Snape explained realising his questions were slightly intrusive.

"With a belt mainly" Harry whispered so quietly the professor had to strain to hear.

"Where does he hit you and how long does it last?" he asked but Harry shook his head, suddenly his mind was closing off from the conversation and he realised he had already said too much. "If it's too hard to say I can use magic to look through your memories?" Snape suggested but Harry instantly shook his head and wrapped his arms around his body.

"He hits me everywhere and it lasts until he runs out of energy so I don't know" he shrugged "he also takes food away from me, locks me in the cupboard and when I was younger he used to hold my head under water in the bath" he whispered.

Snape inhaled sharply begging himself to remain calm, although he would never admit it he understood the pain the child had gone through and it only made it harder to process "Harry, I want you to understand you've done nothing wrong" Snape said gently directly quoting what Dumbledore had said to him many years ago but Harry only shook his head the same way he did.

"Every summer it gets worse and then I have more nightmares" he choked now fighting back tears.

"You won't ever be going back there" Snape said almost to himself.

"I don't have anybody else" Harry reminded him.

"Don't you worry about that, I'll work something out before summer but under no circumstances will you go back there" Snape reassured him.

"I don't want to go into care" Harry cried out "please, I'd rather be at the Dursley's"

"Why?" the professor asked completely bewildered.

"Because Voldemort can't get me there and I don't want to die, I don't want everybody else to die" he said with a few tears escaping from his eyes.

"I'll work something out, don't worry about that for now" Snape repeated "I can give you dreamless sleep for a few nights to let you catch up on sleep but it can become addictive" Snape explained and Harry nodded but didn't speak, there was something in the back of his mind telling him to trust Snape and he did.

"Can I maybe have some dreamless sleep now?" Harry asked "I don't want to fall asleep in class tomorrow" Harry admitted realising he had potions first thing and defence later on.

Snape nodded and then made his way down into his private lab leaving Harry in his own thoughts; he quickly found what he was looking for as it was a potion he seemed to use a lot himself. Quickly he returned to the living room not wanting Harry to feel abandoned.

"Thanks, Sir" Harry said as Snape passed him the vial, he quickly drank the potion and cured up on the sofa hoping he would fall asleep soon. His mind quickly turned to how he would explain the night's events to Ron and more importantly what Snape was going to do next.

Snape watched as the boy quickly fell asleep and he sighed sitting down on the armchair opposite the sofa, he stared blankly allowing the memories of his own past to wash over him and he clenched his eyes shut desperate to erase the look in his father's eyes. The temptation to take dreamless sleep himself toyed in his mind but he knew he had a duty of care to be awake if Harry needed him, instead he made his way into the kitchen and prepared a coffee, it was only four in the morning and already proving to be a long day.

 **Yay I finally finished the second chapter for this story! I'm really enjoying writing this one just now!**

 **Thank you to BlueWater5 and mandancie for your reviews, it's always nice to read nice reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

Finally morning arrived and after a quick shower Severus made his way into the living room to make sure Harry was still where he left him. He sighed lightly at the teen curled up on the sofa and for once he took in how young Harry truly was. The teen seemed younger than his age especially when sleeping and it was obvious by the frown lines the boy was tormented and exhausted. He shook his head lightly knowing how much the boy still had to go through in life and he only hoped the teen would come out the other end okay.

Carefully he pulled the blankets back over Harry and made his way into the kitchen deciding Harry could be doing with an extra half hours sleep and he could be doing with a coffee to wake up fully.

Quietly Severus began to prepare breakfast taking in how strange it felt to have a guest in his quarters once more, especially when that guest was Harry Potter. His mind quickly turned to Harry's relatives and he knew he would have to speak to Dumbledore soon to sort something out.

When breakfast was finally prepared Severus returned to the living room to discover Harry had kicked the covers off once more and was now sprawled out in the opposite direction clearly relaxed in a deep sleep.

"Potter" Severus said awkwardly, not quite sure on what was the best way to wake a teenager "wake up, Harry" he said again but Harry didn't even stir.

With a small sigh Severus made his way over and shook the teen lightly "it's time to wake up"

Harry instantly woke at the touch and shot up completely unsure of his surroundings "huh?" he mumbled looking around before he remembered where he was, on his professors sofa once more.

"I didn't mean to startle you" Severus said simply.

Harry frowned lightly as his mind was still coming around to the idea of being awake "mhmm" he mumbled lightly rubbing his eyes.

"Breakfast is ready" Severus said simply.

Harry's eyes instantly shot open "I could have made that" he said almost defensively.

Severus rolled his eyes and made his way back into the kitchen "I've been on this planet long enough to know how to make sausages, Potter" he said before turning his back on the teen and making his way into the kitchen.

Harry looked around the living room curiously, he had never paid too much attention to Snape's quarters before but now curiosity seemed to be getting the better of him. The living room was fairly large and surprisingly modern with a large book shelf and various paintings on the walls, however Harry quickly noticed the lack of homely touches, specifically the lack of family photos.

Harry followed Snape into the kitchen and instantly felt a deep pain in his chest as the memories from the night before came flooding back, he cringed with embarrassment at letting Snape lead him out of Gryffindor Tower in front of Ron and he dropped his head into his hands remembering all he had confessed to Snape. He cleared his throat and shook his head completely exhausted as his mind began to weigh him down before the day had even begun.

Without thinking Harry stopped in the doorway of the kitchen silently observing the potions master, it was clear the man was tired but still deep in thought reading the daily prophet. He watched as the professor sipped his coffee and began to relax and he sighed realising how weak he must look in front of such a composed and powerful wizard.

Lost in thought Harry considered turning around and running, could he really face Snape's pity? Or the possibility the man would be in a foul mood after Harry had disturbed his sleep _again_? But something kept him frozen on the spot.

Snape looked up and raised a brow at the teen standing awkwardly in the doorway "you can come in" he said simply and Harry nodded cautiously making his way into the room. Snape sighed instantly noticing that although the teen had managed to get a decent amount of sleep his mind was still exhausted. "How are you feeling?" he asked when he realised the boy wasn't going to speak.

Harry shrugged feeling a knot forming in the pit of his stomach at the idea of going to classes; suddenly he couldn't face Draco's taunting or Ron's questions and he was growing scared that he might panic in class. "Sir" Harry said so softly Snape almost didn't hear.

Snape watched the teen warily as Harry let out a breath of air and looked down at the ground.

"I don't think I can go to class today" Harry said simply.

"Why's that?" Snape asked carefully folding up the paper and putting it to the side.

"I don't feel well" Harry muttered quietly almost like a small child that didn't want to go to school that day and needed their parents' permission to stay off.

Snape sighed lightly watching the boy carefully, "you look okay" he said simply.

"I think I have a temperature" Harry muttered.

Snape stood up and made his way over to where Harry was sitting and gently put his hand on the boys forehead, Harry frowned lightly but didn't push Snape away. He had never had someone take his temperature in such a way before but he had seen his aunt use this method with his cousin, he had always longed for someone to look after him when he was sick.

"You don't have a temperature" Severus said simply sitting back down.

"But I still feel sick" Harry insisted looking away anxiously.

"I think you're feeling overwhelmed, Harry" Snape said and Harry's head shot up surprised at the professors observation.

"I just can't face class today" Harry finally admitted knowing Snape had seen right through him.

"What is it that you can't face?" Snape asked.

"What if I panic in class?" Harry questioned.

"You've never panicked in class before" Snape reminded him.

"I fainted because of a dementor" Harry muttered clearly ashamed at himself.

"That's different, Harry" Snape sighed "there won't be any dementors in your classes I can assure you"

"But what if I panic?" Harry asked again.

Snape sighed lightly at the teens need for reassurance "If you panic then we'll deal with it when it happens" he said simply "your first class is with me so if it happens I'll be there"

"I don't think I can do potions today" Harry blurted out dropping his head into his hands; he had totally forgotten he even had potions and the knot in his stomach tightened once more at the stress of brewing the perfect potion. To make matters worse they were doing a healing potion and that always seemed to be the one he messed up the worst.

"Why not?" Snape asked sipping his coffee.

"I just…" Harry muttered but his voice trailed away realising how stupid he must sound. "I'm not very good at healing potions and I'm tired so I'll mess up even more than normal"

"You won't get better if you hide away" Snape said almost gently and Harry tilted his head slightly at his professor's unexpected reaction, he expected the man to agree and say he was terrible at brewing and that he was happy for a day without the added risk of Harry blowing up his classroom. "If you need help in class just put your hand up and I'll come and help you"

"You'll just shout at me and say I'm like my fa-" Harry stopped himself realising he had probably gone too far.

Snape inhaled sharply realising how much the boy truly had been walking on eggshells with him in class "I promise I won't shout" he said simply "or mention your dad" he added.

"And if I panic…?" Harry trailed away unable to finish his question.

"I'll be there to help" Severus said sipping his coffee casually.

Harry nodded lightly now feeling slightly happier his first class was with Snape and he knew Ron wouldn't be able to grill him too much if Snape was there breathing down their necks. "What about defence?" Harry asked.

"Harry, you'll be fine" Snape emphasized "and if you're not okay we'll deal with the situations as they occur, if you're in another class and you need me you can either come to me or I'll come to you but getting yourself worked up over things that might not happen is only going to make things worse"

"I'm sorry, sir" Harry muttered.

"Don't apologize but there's no point worrying over things that might now happen" he said sipping his coffee and Harry smiled lightly, his teachers calm attitude seemed to be calming him "now eat your food before we head to the Great Hall for breakfast"

"I'm having two breakfasts?" Harry asked raising a brow.

Severus shook his head "by the time you get to the Great Hall you'll be bombarded with questions and you'll stress yourself out and not eat"

Harry nodded and smiled awkwardly completely surprised by his professors' response.

. . .

"Aren't you coming into the great hall for breakfast?" Harry asked looking up at the professor who had insisted on walking him to the great hall, although Snape wouldn't admit it he felt comfortable knowing he was dropping the boy off to spend the rest of his day with people and not leaving him alone with his thoughts.

"I have other duties to take care of" Snape said simply not giving much away, Harry only nodded lightly not wanting to be nosy. Snape watched carefully as the teen made his way into the great hall and he almost smiled lightly as Hermione instantly got to her feet to hug Harry clearly relieved the young Gryffindor had returned and once he was sure the boy wasn't panicked he made his way to Dumbledore's office.

"Peppermint" Severus said impatiently as he waited for the door to the headmaster's office to open "Albus!" he called out but he stopped instantly when he realised Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were already sitting at his desk casually in conversation.

"What is it, my boy?" Dumbledore asked with a small frown, he knew the younger wizard well enough to know when something had happened.

"How's Harry, Severus?" Professor McGonagall said throwing the younger wizard off guard "Mr Weasley filled me in this morning that he spent the night in the dungeons"

"Really, Severus?" Dumbledore asked raising a brow.

"He's fine" Severus almost snapped "I need to talk to you" he said in a quieter tone.

Dumbledore nodded quickly recognising that tone well "Okay let's talk, my boy" he said getting to his feet.

"Is everything okay, Severus?" Minerva asked her concerns growing by the second.

"Headmaster" Severus snapped and Dumbledore only smiled lightly at Professor McGonagall.

"If you'll excuse us, Minerva" Dumbledore said guiding Severus out of the office.

In silence they walked to a nearby classroom, Dumbledore looked over at his younger colleague and he could tell by his frown he was trying to piece together whatever he had to tell him and he only hoped nothing had gone too badly with whatever any death eaters might be planning. "What is it, Severus?" he asked as he closed the classroom door.

"It's Harry" Severus said simply.

"This isn't about the drinking again is it?" Dumbledore asked sounding slightly exasperated, he had already lost interest in the situation.

"No, it's more than that" Severus said simply "I think Harry is in danger"

"Has there been movement?" Dumbledore asked quickly eying the younger wizard carefully.

Severus instantly noted the change in the man's tone and he sighed, why did people never notice there was more to Harry than Voldemort? "no" he said simply glaring at the older wizard before leaning against one of the desks.

Dumbledore sighed with relief "what is it then?" he finally asked.

"I think the Dursley's are cruel to him" Severus said unsure of how to word it.

"It's no secret Vernon and Petunia are cold hearted, Severus" Dumbledore said dismissing the conversation.

Severus frowned at the older wizards reaction "it's more than that, they're abusive, not just cold" Severus snapped defensively.

"Severus…"

"No! You will listen, headmaster" Severus said holding up his hand "Harry might be an important piece in your glorified war with Voldemort but he's a child, he's my friends child and I'm telling you he is at risk" Severus said, desperately trying to keep his temper under control.

"In what way?" Albus asked patiently.

"They're battering him, depriving him of food and locking him in small spaces" Severus admitted "the boy is emotionally exhausted and terrified" he choked "you have to help him, Albus. I had Ron banging on my door in the middle of the night when Harry woke up in a panic unable to breathe because of nightmares about his Uncle. If the nightmares he's having aren't about the man who killed his parents but rather the man _you_ chose to look after him what does that say about Vernon Dursley? What does it say when Harry fears him more than evil itself?" he blurted out.

"Vernon Dursley wouldn't cause him harm" Dumbledore said weakly. He knew the man could often be tough on Harry but he had never seen any physical injuries on the teen and as far as he knew Arabella had said nothing of this type of neglect.

"There's more than one way to injure somebody, Albus, it's not always physical but Harry has told me himself Vernon beats him" Severus said simply.

"Are you sure you haven't managed to get Harry's childhood entangled with your own?" Albus said softly putting a hand on the younger wizards shoulder, he sighed when the younger wizard flinched and pulled away.

"Don't patronise me, Albus" Severus warned.

"There has never been any mention of physical abuse" Albus repeated.

"He told me himself" Severus snapped.

Albus sighed meeting the eyes of the younger wizard, he looked away unable to stand how tormented his younger professor really was "There's nothing I can do" Albus said calmly "even if the Dursley's are that abusive they are what protects him from Voldemort. If I have to choose between him being beaten and being murdered then there is really no decision to be made" he said taking a deep breath to stay composed, as cruel as he felt he had to do what was needed to protect the boy.

"He won't have a life worth living if you allow them to continue to destroy him" Severus spat.

"He's coped so far" Dumbledore snapped.

Severus inhaled sharply and looked over at the older wizard "are you serious?"

"You must understand that I care deeply for the boy but I need to protect him from Voldemort" Dumbledore sighed dropping his head into his hands. As composed as he was hoping to come across he never knew how damaged Harry must be for the professor the teen disliked most to find out.

"And while you're _protecting_ him from The Dark Lord Who's supposed to be protecting him from Vernon Dursley then?" Severus snapped pulling the older wizard out of his thoughts.

"When did you start to care for the boy, Severus?" Albus frowned.

"When I realised nobody else did" Severus spat.

"We're going round in circles now, Severus. If there was another way I'd have taken it!" Dumbledore shouted enough to make the younger wizard flinch.

"You could have asked me" Severus muttered "I'd have cared for him"

"You're a spy, Severus" Dumbledore reminded him "you can't expose your position and it's not safe to have Harry in the care of someone so close to Voldemort"

"Find a new spy because I'm done with this game" Severus hissed "at least Voldemort is honest about harming the boy, you're doing it behind his back" he said simply meeting the older wizards glare once more before storming out of the room.

"Severus!" Dumbledore shouted.

Dumbledore watched as the door slammed shut and listened carefully as Snape's footsteps faded towards the direction of the dungeons, knowing the man had a class coming up he only hoped he didn't take it out on the students too brutally. He sighed heavily wishing there was another way.

Snape stormed towards the dungeons unable to control his temper much longer, Albus couldn't care less about the damage that was being done to one of his students as long as he won his game. "Severus!" Minerva called. He stopped suddenly realising he was going to have to compose himself.

"Hello, Minerva" he said simply.

"What's happened?" she asked cutting to the point. She frowned lightly with concern as her colleague only shook his head with disappointment, the only man he had ever trusted had failed Lily's child and there was nothing he could do about it.

"It's nothing" he said simply before turning and making his way towards the dungeon once more.

. . .

"Look at this" Ron whispered before passing a piece of paper over to Harry.

"What is it?" Harry asked realising it was a page Ron had ripped out of a magazine.

"The newest broom, it's quicker than any other broom" Ron explained.

"It's not like either of you will get it" Hermione said rolling her eyes "we should be focusing on potions"

"Class hasn't started yet" Ron said rolling his eyes but they were all distracted as the door slammed shut and Snape came storming into the room.

"Turn to page 376 and read through the instructions then begin brewing" Snape said simply.

"Do you want our homework, Sir?" Hermione asked.

"10 points for speaking without permission" Snape snapped before turning his attention to the book on his desk.

"Points taken before the textbooks are open, that's a new record even for you" Ron whispered and Harry giggled lightly.

"Shut up, Ron" Hermione hissed looking back down at the textbook.

"What's so funny?" Dean asked from behind.

"Nothing" Hermione snapped.

"Hermione's going for a world record" Ron said grinning lightly.

"What record?" Neville whispered quiet enough the Gryffindor's could barely hear him never mind Snape.

"How many points Snape can take from a student in one lesson" Ron smirked causing Harry to giggle more.

Snape looked up carefully from his book to see who was giggling but his hard persona faded when he realised it was Harry, as much as the golden trio were causing a slight distraction amongst the Gryffindor's he couldn't bring himself to tell the boy off, instead he flicked to the next page deciding to ignore them on this occasion.

Students slowly began to move in their pairs to collect the ingredients and begin brewing. Ron and Harry stood side by side slicing and cutting different ingredients "Snape seems pretty pissed about something" Ron whispered curiously, the professor hadn't made an effort to guide them at all throughout the lesson, instead he was snapping at students once they had made the mistake and then continuing to read.

"I know" Harry muttered lightly hoping it wasn't him that had caused it, he knew the professor had had poor sleep for two nights in a row and maybe once he finally got rid of Harry it had caught up with him.

After 15 minutes of reading and not taking any of it in Snape put the book down and began watching the students, the class had obviously picked up on his exceptionally bad mood and even Draco seemed to be behaving for once. He sighed looking over at the golden trio; Harry and Ron were in light conversation and even from the other side of the room he could make out the quidditch references and he rolled his eyes lightly, Hermione however wasn't interested and was instead trying to salvage Neville's potion.

"Stop" Snape said holding up his hand and making his way over to Granger and Longbottom.

"Sorry, Sir" Hermione said looking down realising she was probably in more trouble for improvising; maybe she was going to get a new world record.

"Your attempts were accurate but you miscalculated the flies, recalculate and try again" he said simply before moving over to inspect Crabbe and Goyle's.

Hermione blinked up in disbelief; Snape hadn't shouted at her or vanished the potion.

"Maybe he doesn't want her to get a world record" Ron muttered to Harry who giggled lightly.

"No, Ron!" Harry almost shouted as Ron dropped the wrong ingredient into the potion causing it to hiss and develop a sickly green colour.

"What do we do?" Ron asked wide eyed.

"I don't know" Harry said and he could feel the anxiety rising in his blood as his body began to shake lightly "Sir" Harry blurted out.

"No, Harry!" Ron hissed not wanting Snape to see.

Snape turned and almost snapped at the disastrous potion but he took a deep breath not wanting to set Harry back further "step back" he said simply and both boys quickly scurried out the way, after muttering a few words the potion vanished and the cauldron was left empty.

"Way to go, idiots!" Malfoy shouted causing a few Slytherin's to laugh.

"Five points for speaking without permission, Malfoy" Snape snapped.

. . .

The rest of the week went without issue; Harry didn't see much of Snape and finally classes had ended with Christmas only being a few days away. Luckily for Harry both Hermione and the Weasley's were staying and he couldn't have been happier for the company. With a heavy sigh Harry made his way down towards Snape's quarters for his first detention, after a long day he was too tired to scrub cauldrons or write lines but he knew he had to take his punishment without moaning because he did deserve it.

He knocked on the door and waited patiently to be called in, after a moment he heard Snape say to come in and he quickly entered.

"Okay Harry, you can leave your book bag here you won't need it" Severus said simply.

Harry frowned with confusion "where are we going, sir?" he asked simply.

"To run a few errands, we'll take the floo" Severus said simply.

"What are we going to collect?" Harry asked curiously and almost excitedly, this was a lot better than cleaning or doing lines.

"We are going to my old house to collect a few books" Severus replied "Now before we go to this house I must warn you will need to be careful I only go back for the occasional thing and you will see I've done nothing to help with the upkeep of the house"

"Do you live somewhere else now?" Harry asked curiously.

"A cottage near the Scottish coast"

"Cool" Harry said, his mind instantly filled with images of fields and the sea side.

Severus raised a brow at the teens curiosity but said nothing else.

Quickly they made their way to spinners end and floo'd straight into the living room, the house was small and dark as all the curtains were drawn shut but the house was tidy. Harry quickly noticed all the books were organised and if it wasn't for the dust the house would be small but nice. Harry watched as the professor scanned the shelf for different books before picking out several and shrinking them.

"Did my mum ever come here?" Harry asked curiously.

"Once or twice, my mother was very fond of Lily" Snape said simply.

"But not your dad" Harry said filing in the blanks.

Severus raised a brow realising Harry hadn't even noticed what he said out loud but he had instinctively put the pieces together and he sighed deeply watching the boy wander around curiously.

"Are we getting anything else?" Harry asked curiously, there was something exciting about being in Snape's old home.

"Just a few things from upstairs" Severus said and Harry nodded with anticipation.

Harry watched as the professor made his way out of the living room and into the hallway, suddenly he felt rather intimidated being alone in an unfamiliar house. "Can I come?" he called out.

Snape stopped on the second stair, he was hoping Harry would have been content standing in the one place but he could hear the uncertainty in the young teens voice "just be careful" he called back and Harry nodded before running to catch up.

"I like this house" Harry said to himself as the walked up the stairs.

"Why's that?" Snape asked raising a brow, Spinners End wasn't a typical place to like.

"It's just so different, parts of it are like a wizards home and other parts like a muggle" Harry said still looking around "and the house my aunt lives in looks like all the other houses in the street so it's like lego land and I hate it"

Snape let out a small laugh at the boy's analysis before leading Harry into the back bedroom, it was different to the rest of the house, it was spotless from dust and still fresh. It was a pretty basic bedroom but perfectly pleasant. Snape reached into a small desk and pulled out a watch, it was a small black watch with a star in the middle of it. "Your mother gave me this when I was your age" he said passing the watch to Harry "it's about time it was passed on to you" he said watching as the boy inspected the watch, his eyes wide with curiosity.

"What does the star mean?" Harry asked curiously.

"She believed stars were the people we have lost looking over us, she thought it would remind me of my mum" Snape said simply taking the watch from the boy before gently putting it on his arm "she believed the ones we love are always with us" he added.

"Do you believe that?" Harry asked curiously.

"I believe as long as there is somebody still walking this earth that knows of somebody that has passed they will always be alive, because even though your mother isn't here she will always be in your heart and she will still guide you through the choices you make" he said and Harry smiled lightly "and whenever you talk about her you're keeping her spirit alive"

"Thank you, sir" Harry said smiling, he could tell it was hard for the professor to open up to him about his mother but he was grateful, he began to wonder if Snape had ever had anybody to talk about Lily with.

"There's one more thing I want to show you" Snape said picking up a few more books and a blanket before leaving the room.

Harry followed the professor as they made their way down Spinners End, he looked curiously at all of the houses, although it wasn't the wealthiest of areas the homes were bursting with character and it only made him curious about the people that chose to live there. They turned a corner and suddenly the houses started to become nicer, the majority were painted a nice white colour or were a nice light coloured brick.

"There's the tree!" Harry shouted pointing to a large tree at the end of the small street; it was at the top of a small mound. They quickly made their way over to the tree and Harry instantly looked for the names and found them easily. He ran his fingers over the carvings and closed his eyes to imagine his mother doing the same thing, he could almost picture Lily sitting at the foot of the tree writing while Snape read from a potions book and he smiled at how real his mother felt.

Snape sighed and looked around, the area was exactly how they had left it many years ago but strangely everything felt different, he was older, wiser, but surprisingly he didn't feel as alone as he was expecting to. He closed his eyes knowing the reason he had avoided the tree for so long was because coming back here without Lily would only clarify that she was never coming back. As much as he still missed her when he looked at her son finding comfort in a memory they had created he didn't feel as alone.

"Are you okay, sir?" Harry asked looking up at the professor.

Snape looked down and smiled at Harry, instantly meeting those bright green eyes. He instantly noted how different Harry's eyes were to Lily's, they were both twinkling and bright green but Harry's eyes always had a thankful glisten to them, especially when they were talking about Lily. "I'm okay, Harry" he finally said offering the boy a small smile.

"This is the weirdest detention I've ever had" Harry muttered.

"I didn't think you needed any further punishing" Snape said simply and Harry nodded and before he could stop himself he found himself hugging the potions master tightly. Snape instantly tensed at the unfamiliar contact but gently hugged the boy back.

"Thank you, Sir" Harry mumbled into his robes.

"Don't you be thinking every time you're bad you get to come and look at trees" Snape said sarcastically as he let the boy go. "Come there's one more thing I want to show you" he said and Harry nodded before trotting after him down the next street completely content.

Snape stopped a few houses down and looked at a large detached white house, the garden was filled with different types of flowers and there was a small colourful bench on the porch. A small stone path led up to the wooden steps at the front of the house that were freshly painted brown, just like the outer parts of all the windows.

"It's my mother's house, isn't it?" Harry asked as he took in every little detail of the house.

"Yes, it is" Snape replied.

"It's exactly how I imagined it" Harry whispered looking intently at the house "it looks so homely and happy"

"It is definitely the perfect family home" Snape added.

"I want to live in a house like this when I get married and have kids" Harry said "and I want a swing in the garden and for Ron to live next door"

Snape chuckled lightly at the boys innocent plans and he only hoped adulthood wouldn't ruin the friendship he had grown with Weasley and Granger like it had him and Lily. Harry yawned lightly and stretched out.

"I think it's time to get back" Severus replied, although it had only been two hours and he had to keep the boy till ten.

Harry tiredly followed Snape as they made their way back to his quarters and Harry collapsed onto the sofa completely exhausted. Snape vanished into the kitchen and Harry sat looking at his new watch, he wiggled his hand around so he could see it better and smiled brightly.

Severus appeared a few minutes later with a mug of hot chocolate and a strong black coffee and placed them both on the coffee table. "This is a book of your mothers drawings" Severus said resizing the first book and handing it to Harry "Petunia quite literally threw it at me a few months after the funeral"

"Of course she did" Harry muttered his voice laced with disgust. He opened the book and began to flick through it carefully, there was a drawing of four boys. "That's my dad and Professor Lupin" Harry pointed out.

"That's right, that's Sirius Black and that's Peter Pettigrew" Severus said filling in the blanks.

"What happened to Peter?" Harry asked.

"Killed by Black, all that was found was a finger" Severus said carefully, he wasn't sure how much more Harry could take when it came to Black.

"It looks like Professor Lupin and Black were close" Harry said pointing at the two men with their arms around each other.

"They definitely were" Severus said frowning lightly, he still didn't trust Remus "but Sirius did live with your dad at one point when he fell out with his family because they were like brothers, I don't know the details though" he said simply.

"What's that?" Harry asked pointing at the large red blanket.

"This was your mums, she had it for years" Severus explained "a boy a few years above us accidentally spilt a black potion over it and I took it home to try and clean it, I managed to clean it but we fell out before I could give her it back and then she wouldn't accept it"

"Who was stupid enough to spill a potion?" Harry frowned.

"It was an accident, Lucius tripped outside on someone's cat"

"Lucius Malfoy?" Harry scoffed "I doubt it was an accident then" he said bitterly as he took the blanket from Severus, it was incredibly soft and smelt of roses.

"She would want you to have the blanket" Severus said ignoring the comments about Lucius.

"Thanks, Sir" Harry smiled "but why did you fall out"

"I called her something unforgivable" Severus sighed looking away, Harry could tell he was ashamed and that he regretted it.

"What did you call her?" he asked.

"A mudblood" Severus admitted knowing Remus was bound to tell him at some point and he knew it was better if it came from him.

"Why?" Harry frowned.

"There are no excuses for using such a despicable word but I was being bullied severely by a group of Gryffindor boys that she associated with and when she tried to help I lashed out" he explained.

"When you're hurting your mind doesn't think straight but I think she would have forgiven you" Harry said offering him a small smile and Severus sighed slightly with relief that he hadn't seemed to have damaged his growing bond with the teen. He gulped feeling guilty about leaving out all the other details that happened later but he decided the boy was still too young and he deserved weightless happiness even if it was for a short time.

"What am I doing for the rest of detention, Sir?" Harry asked curiously.

"Occupying yourself whilst I finish up on some marking" Severus said simply. Harry nodded lightly feeling lucky this detention hadn't been bad at all, it hadn't even felt like a detention. Severus made his way into his study leaving the office door open and Harry lay down to do some light reading but he soon dozed off, with thoughts of his mother, his father and Professor Snape spinning around in his head.

. . .

There was a knock at the door and Professor Snape quickly left his study to answer it as he wasn't expecting any visitors, on the way by he noticed Harry fast asleep on the sofa with the book still in his hand. He opened the door and frowned to find Professor McGonagall looking rather concerned. "Can I help you, Minerva?" he asked.

"One of my students is missing" she said, her eyes wide worth worry "Harry was due back half an hour ago, I'm worried he's gone drinking again" she whispered almost as if she was too worried to say the words.

"I owe you an apology, Minerva, I lost track of time doing some marking and forgot to dismiss Harry, he's asleep on my sofa" he said and Minerva instantly sighed with relief, she was beginning to worry what had happened to the boy.

"As long as he's safe, if you're finished with him I'd like to take him back to his dorm" Professor McGonagall said simply and Severus nodded.

"Come in, Minerva" he said and she quickly came into his quarters and made her way into the living room, she sighed seeing Harry fast asleep on the professor's sofa, he definitely looked comfortable and content. "Harry, detention is over" Severus said giving the boy a small shake.

Harry slowly opened his eyes but closed them again, he was warm and content by the fire and the idea of walking anywhere didn't seem much fun.

"Come on, Harry" Minerva said "Professor Snape needs to go to bed too and I think you've spent enough nights on his sofa" she reminded him and Harry sighed before sitting up and rubbing his eyes, detentions right up until curfew were proving tough.

"I'll see you tomorrow evening, Potter" Snape said simply as Minerva began to nudge the groggy teen towards the door.

"Thanks, Sir" Harry mumbled lightly.

. . .

Harry arrived in the dorms to find Seamus, Neville, Dean and Ron all sitting in their beds discussing whether or not Harry was still alive when Harry entered and collapsed tiredly onto his bed. "Tough time?" Ron asked.

"Not really" Harry shrugged.

"What did he have you do?" Ron asked.

Harry took a deep breath, he knew he was going to have to explain it from the start or it wouldn't make any sense "Professor Snape admitted my mother and him were childhood friends when he realised I was finding it hard not knowing a lot about her" Harry said simply "and he showed me photo albums and told me stories" he explained and their eyes all began to widen. "Tonight he took me to my mother's childhood home so I could see it for myself and he showed me where they used to play and he gave me this" he said holding out the blanket.

"What is it?" Ron asked confused.

"It was my mums, she left it at his house and never went back for it" he said leaving out the details "and this is the watch she gave him when they were thirteen, he's passed it on to me"

"We are still talking about Snape?" Ron clarified.

"He's honestly not that bad, Ron" Harry replied simply.

"Are you sure he's telling the truth?" Neville asked warily.

"He has tones of photos and I can tell he truly cares" Harry said.

"Are you sure he's not trying to hurt you?" Ron asked, he wasn't convinced about Snape's sudden change in personality and the man was clever enough to conjure these items and invent the stories to trick Harry.

"Why would he do that Ron?" Harry asked defensively.

"I just care about you" Ron snapped.

"Well then you should be happy that I'm happy" Harry replied with a small glare before grabbing the blanket and turning away from Ron "I'm going to bed" he said simply.

"I'm sorry, Harry" Ron mumbled but Harry didn't reply, he was already asleep.

 **Ooookay so I FINALLY got out another chapter! I'm sorry this took so long, I struggled for a while on where I wanted to go with this and then was preoccupied with "An Unlikely Family"**

 **Thank you so much for all the previous reviews and I'll do my best to update more regularly!**


	4. Chapter 4

The next again morning things were still awkward at breakfast, it was obvious Harry was angry at Ron for his inability to accept the fact he trusted Snape. Harry and Hermione sat in silence eating their toast, Harry had refused to wait for Ron and Hermione had followed Harry clearly not wanting to leave him alone.

"Are you sure you're not being a bit dramatic, Harry?" Hermione asked carefully.

Harry shrugged "I just know the second he comes down he'll bring it up again and I couldn't be bothered with an argument first thing this morning" Harry explained.

"As long as you're sure" Hermione replied before turning her attention back to her textbook.

Harry continued to eat his toast and barely looked up as Ron entered and sat opposite them with Neville.

"Morning" Harry finally said when Ron only began to smother pancakes with some syrup.

"Morning" Ron mumbled and again the table fell to silence, eventually Ron broke the silence with a heavy sigh "look Harry, I don't want to argue but this is Professor Snape we're talking about"

"So?" Harry replied.

"He hates you Harry, who knows what game he's playing?" Ron replied quietly.

"He's not playing games" Harry replied rolling his eyes lightly.

"People don't have personality transplants overnight!" Ron snapped when he noticed Harry's eye roll.

"He knew my mum Ron" Harry reminded him "he's one of the very few people that can give me a piece of her back and I'm not going to throw that away….plus he looks out for me"

Ron scoffed "he's up to something, Harry"

"Just drop it, Ron! You know nothing" Harry shouted before getting up and leaving.

"Where are you going, Harry?" Luna asked as Harry stormed by.

"To the quidditch pitch" Harry snapped, he knew he was probably overreacting but with everything going on the fact people were willingly causing more drama was just infuriating. He cried out angrily remembering he was banned from playing on his broom but quickly he found the football that Wood kept stashed in the changing rooms and began kicking it about the pitch to burn off steam.

. . .

"What's wrong with Harry?" Luna asked noticing Ron also looked unsettled "it's not Sirius Black is it?" she whispered cautiously.

"No it's Snape's fault" Ron mumbled.

"What did he do?" Luna asked nervously looking up at the teachers table, she looked away quickly when she realised the professor in question was watching her curiously.

"What hasn't he done?" Ron said glaring in his hated professors' direction.

"Oh be quiet, Ron! Professor Snape has done nothing wrong" Hermione hissed.

"He's spending too much time with Harry" Ron reminded her.

"He's in charge of Harry's detentions, Luna" Hermione explained further "Ron's being dramatic"

"Is that it?" Luna asked raising a brow and Ron nodded "Ron, if he wasn't doing any harm just leave them be" she said before walking away.

"See, Ron" Hermione said closing her book "even Luna thinks you're over reacting"

Ron rolled his eyes "fine I'll drop it, I'll go see Harry"

"Maybe give him time at the quidditch pitch to cool off" Hermione suggested.

"Did you say Potter's at the quidditch pitch?" Snape asked making them both jump, they hadn't even noticed the professor had moved from the table and was listening.

"That's what Luna said, Sir" Ron shrugged and Snape's face quickly flipped to one filled with anger, he quickly strode out the door and down towards the quidditch pitch, he was furious that the boy would have the nerve to play quidditch after how understanding they had all been about his situation. He cursed himself for being too soft when he knew the boy was likely to take advantage, this was James Potters son after all.

He opened the doors onto the pitch to see Harry wandering around kicking a small ball aimlessly, his hands were in his pockets and he looked down.

Cautiously Severus made his way over to the teen that was completely oblivious he was there, he could hear Harry swearing under his breath and he could tell the teen was wound up. "Are you okay?" he asked causing Harry to jump slightly.

"I'm fine, Sir" Harry shrugged "I'm just letting off steam" he said kicking the ball once more "I've not been on my broom, I promise" he said quickly realising how it must look.

Severus nodded lightly scolding himself for not trusting the boy "I know you haven't" he reassured him. "What happened at breakfast?" he asked.

"I just got annoyed at Ron because he was picking arguments" Harry said.

"Does it upset you that much?" Severus asked, Harry had never seemed too bothered by the arguing before.

"I'm fed up of everybody fighting, no matter where I go it's always shouting, swearing, violence and it's normally either me that's caused it or me it's aimed at and I just want it to stop" Harry said kicking the ball slightly too far.

The professor stopped the ball with his foot "what violence is aimed at you?" he asked kicking the ball back gently.

"Voldemort, Sirius Black…even the Dursley's…" Harry stopped himself as soon as he realised what he was saying and he sighed lightly before sitting down on the pitch.

"You're allowed to talk about your relatives if you want to, I will listen" Snape said carefully.

"No, it's fine" Harry shrugged but Severus still wasn't convinced.

"You can trust me, Harry" Severus said gently as he sat next to Harry.

"I'm just not ready to talk right now, Sir" Harry sighed and looked down suddenly embarrassed, there was no point in talking about how cruel the Dursley's were because nothing would change, it would only make him look weaker.

"Well when you are ready you know where to find me" Snape said simply.

"Cooking a Gryffindor in the potions lab?" Harry smirked raising a brow and Snape shoved him gently.

"Five points-"

"Sir!"

"Awarded for sheer bravery" Severus said smirking at the boy who was now laughing lightly, who knew Snape could joke? "Your dad liked football" he said unsure of why he was even bringing up a man he hated.

"But he was pureblood?" Harry asked confused.

"He was shown it by a Ravenclaw whose father was a muggle. He was determined to be as good at that as he was at quidditch even though he couldn't kick the ball in a straight line to begin with" Snape said rolling his eyes.

"Well nobody can be good at everything" Harry said dismissively "but I'd loved to have kicked a ball about with him anyway" he sighed.

"Remus was quite good" Snape offered.

"When is he coming back?" Harry asked curiously noting the professor had been absent for a few days.

"Soon" Snape said awkwardly "let's get back" he said before getting to his feet, Harry quickly followed feeling a lot calmer.

"Sir…" Harry said running to catch up "what would you have done if I was playing quidditch?" he asked curiously.

"You wouldn't be able to sit for a week" Severus said simply.

Harry stopped completely open mouthed as he watched his professor.

"Oh I'm joking, Potter" Snape said rolling his eyes "I don't believe in such old fashion methods and neither does this school, now get walking"

"Good" Harry said simply as he trotted beside Snape.

. . .

After lunch Harry bounded quickly towards Gryffindor tower, although he had managed to pick up a few Christmas presents for Ron and Hermione he still had a few things he wanted to pick up.

Remus raised a brow as he watched the young Gryffindor running by quickly "where's the emergency?" he asked catching Harry's attention.

"Sir! You're back" Harry grinned excitedly "are you staying for the whole holidays?" he asked curiously and he was happy when Remus nodded.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Remus asked curiously.

"I have to ask Professor McGonagall if I can go to Hogsmeade" Harry said simply.

Remus frowned and shook his head "you know you're not allowed, Harry" he said simply and he was surprised when Harry nodded.

"I know I'm not" Harry said awkwardly "but technically I'm not allowed to go on the Hogsmeade _visits_ , but I'm not asking to go with Ron and Hermione on one of the visits" he explained.

"Well you've even less chance of being allowed to go alone" Remus said chuckling lightly.

"I'm going to see if someone can take me" Harry said confidently "I just want to pick up a Christmas present"

Remus smiled lightly "you've left it a bit late" he said simply.

"Well I've not had the chance since you've all held me captive since the start of the school year" Harry frowned.

Remus laughed lightly "you make it sound like we've chained you to a desk, let's go see what Professor McGonagall has to say then" he said nudging Harry in the direction of Gryffindor tower.

Harry knocked eagerly on Professor McGonagall's door and he didn't hesitate to come in the second she called.

"Professor…I need to ask you something" Harry said awkwardly.

"Yes, Harry?" she said watching him curiously.

Harry cleared his throat "I know I'm not allowed to go on a Hogsmeade visit which I understand but I was wondering if somebody could take me, just for an hour so I can pick up some Christmas presents?" he asked and he waited patiently.

Professor McGonagall sighed "you know I'd love to let you out but it simply isn't safe enough"

"But I just want to buy a Christmas present, Professor" Harry argued "It will take half an hour"

Professor McGonagall shook her head "I'm sorry but as long as Sirius Black is on the loose I have to put your safety before Christmas presents"

"But Professor-"

"No arguments, Potter" Professor McGonagall said raising her hand.

The professors watched as Harry left the room with a defeated sigh.

"Maybe I could take him?" Remus asked bur Professor McGonagall shook her head.

"I'm not risking it, Remus" she said simply "he'll thank me for it when he's older"

. . .

Harry was definitely in a foul mood during detention that night, he was so mad at Professor McGonagall that he found himself curled up on Snape's sofa barely listening to a word the man said as he tried to cheer the moody teen up.

"Cheer up, it might not happen" Snape said simply.

"It already has" Harry muttered.

"What is it, Harry?" Snape asked clasping his hands together as he leaned forward to inspect the teen further "it's Christmas eve tomorrow, I thought you'd be happy"

Harry shrugged "because I'm under house arrest I couldn't buy proper Christmas presents"

Severus let out a small laugh "you sound like we're keeping you locked up"

"Well it feels that way" Harry said hugging his knees to his chest "I'm that much of a freak I can't even go out in public long enough to buy presents"

"That's enough of that" Snape said sternly "you will not refer to yourself in such a manner"

"I just want to buy some Christmas presents" Harry protested.

"Knowing your friends, the only present they will want is your safety" Snape said simply "now quit the self-pity act"

"It's not self-pity" Harry protested.

"And I'm not the potions professor" Snape said sarcastically.

Harry glared at his professor before turned over and reading the book he had brought with him. Severus sighed as he watched the teen, he couldn't imagine watching all his friends experiencing the joys of Hogsmeade whilst being kept at school and he also couldn't imagine the stares and muttering Harry faced on a daily basis as he walked the corridors. After a few minutes Snape quickly gathered the few final essays he had finished marking and filed them away before getting to his feet "let's go" he said simply.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked curiously.

"To my quarters" Severus replied simply "I have something I think will make you feel better"

Harry sat quietly on the sofa as Snape began to fiddle with an old TV, he wondered where the professor had gotten it from but he didn't ask realising Snape was growing slightly irate at the fact he couldn't get it to turn on. After several minutes of fiddling the TV burst into life and Harry jumped as the noisy static hissed.

"I found an old video I want to show you" Snape said pushing a video into the video slot, he had wanted to find another way to let the boy feel closer to Lily but he also wanted to show Harry the child-like side to their friendship that still involved muggle technology.

"Is this on?" a voice on the TV said and Harry's eyes widened, his body suddenly felt warm and full and although he could only ever remember her scream, he knew it was his mother's voice "Severus, I can't tell if it's working" the young red head said from the other end of the camcorder.

The camcorder was facing a young boy with long black hair that was sitting against a large tree, _that large tree_ , he sighed lightly dropping his book before looking at the camcorder completely irritated. "Lily, put that stupid thing away" he said.

"Oh stop being boring, Sev" she said simply and he scoffed lightly.

Harry giggled lightly at his mother's tone, not many people would even dare talk to Snape like that, yet he was only looking at her warmly.

"It's on, Lily" Severus finally said rolling his eyes.

"How can you tell?" she asked curiously.

"Hmm, maybe the giant green light?" he said sarcastically and she giggled lightly.

"Where would I be without you?" Lily said and Harry could tell she was pulling faces from behind the camera based on young Severus' smirk. "Okay, our video can officially begin"

"Why are we doing this?"

"To make memories" Lily said sounding slightly exasperated, Harry could tell by her tone he had already asked her before.

"Hello, whoever is watching!" Lily said turning the camera on herself.

"Mum" Harry gasped lightly as the redhead appeared on the screen, she was everything Harry imagined his young mother would be. Her hair was glowing and her eyes glistened just like his, but the thing he noticed most was how young and alive she looked.

"Nobody will watch his, Lily"

"Shh Severus, you're wrecking it" she scolded lightly looking away from the camera to glare at her friend "anyway" she said continuing her video "My name is Lily Evans and I'm with my friend, do you want to introduce yourself?" she asked looking over at Severus once more.

"Not really" he teased.

"Sev!"

"You just told me to shh!"

"This is Severus Snape" Lily said pointing the camera in the direction of her friend, Severus was now lying on his stomach reading his book with his feet swinging freely "he's a bit of a bore"

Harry giggled lightly taking in how content they both were in each other's company.

"She was good at slagging me off" Snape said lightly and Harry smiled up at him before turning his attention back to the home video.

"What are you reading?" Lily asked.

"A book" Severus said smirking over at her "I'm reading the first year defence textbook so I'm prepared" he explained.

"We have ages till school starts" Lily said rolling her eyes.

"It's good to be prepared" he said flicking to the next page and Harry smiled lightly at the Hermione like attitude.

"Anyway" Lily said turning the camera back to herself "it's our last summer before we start at our new school, it's August the 18th and it's sunny" she smiled brightly.

"Severus!" a voice called.

"Coming, mum!" Severus called back and Harry could hear the future potions master getting to his feet.

"Severus, it's time for lunch!" she called again.

"Yes, mum!" Severus called again "I'll come back as soon as I can" he said before running off.

Harry smiled lightly at the idea of his Professor being called home by his mother, there was something completely innocent about young Severus that only made Harry even more curious not just about his mum, but about both of them. Harry looked up to see the professor didn't seem to be sharing his happiness "are you okay, Sir?" he asked.

"The last time I heard my mother's voice I was thirteen" Snape said simply and Harry didn't need any further explanation, without a second thought he hugged the professor sitting next to him realising he wasn't the only one who was reaching out for his lost mother. "I'm okay" he added realising the teen seemed more concerned about him than the video.

"Thank you, Sir" Harry said looking up at the older eyes.

"Hello, again!" Lily said smiling brightly at the camera and they both looked curiously assuming the video had already ended "it's four days now until we start high school and surprisingly it's still sunny which is quite good for England"

Lily turned the camera towards Severus who was looking slightly more tired than the previous video, but Harry quickly noticed how much further into his book he seemed to be. "Hello" Severus said rolling his eyes at the camera before turning his attention back to his book clearly uninterested.

"As you can see Severus is still reading and he's been teaching me different potions ingredients and what they mix with" Lily said.

"What I _think_ they mix with" Severus emphasised looking up at the camera "it's just a theory" he added not sounding too confident in himself.

"We'll soon find out" Lily almost sung and Harry grinned at how happy she seemed about going to Hogwarts.

"I guess" Severus mumbled more to himself "Lily, I don't feel like filming today" he sighed lightly.

"I'll turn it off" she said fiddling with the camcorder before dropping it onto the grass.

Harry watched carefully as the clip continued both the young students-to-be completely unaware their conversation was still being documented. Harry looked up at Severus and he could tell by the man's slightly opened mouth and wide eyes he hadn't known till this moment the camcorder had continued to film them.

"Does it hurt?" Lily asked softly.

"A little bit" Severus said simply, Harry could instantly hear the change in his future professors' voice now he thought the camera was off.

"Can I see?" Lily asked.

"I don't want to" Severus sniffled lightly.

"It's okay, you don't have to do anything you don't want to" Lily said gently "was he drunk again?" she asked almost cautiously.

"Yeah" Severus said simply and Harry could feel the pain echoing through his tone.

"I'm sorry, Severus" Lily choked "I wish I could do something"

"Please just don't tell anybody" Severus begged.

"I won't, you know I wouldn't" she insisted.

Harry listened carefully as his mother got to her feet and he heard a small bag being unzipped "I took some calpol when mum wasn't looking, I knew you'd need it eventually"

"Thanks, Lily"

Harry looked up at Snape once more and although the man was still looking at the television he could tell by his eyes, which seemed darker than normal, that the man was far away buried in an unpleasant memory. Carefully he reached over the professor for the remote and turned off the TV.

Snape was only pulled from his thoughts when he felt his arm being pushed to the side and another person wriggling close enough to cuddle into his chest. "What are you doing, Potter?" he finally sighed.

"What my mum would do if she was here right now" was all Harry said before the room fell into a comfortable silence with both of them lost in their own thoughts. Harry easily pieced together what had happened and although he couldn't offer the professor much to heal him he could comfort him until he felt better. They spent the rest of the evening in comfortable silence as they both became lost in their own thoughts, both lost in the abusive lives they'd been subjected to and the mothers they'd both painfully lost along the way.

It wasn't long before Harry felt a change in the professors breathing and he carefully looked up to see the man had fallen asleep, Harry noted he looked younger when his guard was down. Almost as if he was taking his cue Harry closed his own eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

. . .

Harry woke a few hours later feeling hot and uncomfortable, he looked up to see his professor was still fast asleep and slowly he moved off the sofa to stretch properly. After checking his watch he quickly realised curfew had well and truly ended and he was surprised Professor McGonagall hadn't turned up to chase him back to Gryffindor Tower.

Quickly Harry found a piece of paper and after scribbling a note to let his professor know he'd gone back before someone had to come looking for him he gently dropped a blanket over his professor and left the room quietly.

"Finally decided to grace us with your presence, Potter?" Professor McGonagall said causing Harry to jump as he entered the common room.

"Professor!" Harry gasped completely off guard "I lost track of time"

To Harry's surprise Professor McGonagall only smiled lightly "can Professor Snape confirm that?"

"Yeah…well no…he fell asleep but I was there" Harry nodded.

Professor McGonagall laughed lightly "I believe you, now up to bed" she said pointing towards his room.

Harry nodded "night, Professor" he smiled before making his way towards his room.

"Night, Potter" Professor McGonagall said smiling at the teens new found spirit, although it was obvious Harry was still wound up by the entire Black situation the boy had a fight back in him he didn't have before and deep down she knew that was due to Severus Snape.

. . .

The next again day Harry found himself wide awake before the Ron, he got up and stretched out quickly remembering the night before. Noting that he should go make sure his professor was okay after breakfast he was quickly distracted by the white glow outside.

"It's snowing!" Harry shouted causing Ron to wake up with a jump "it's snowing, Ron!"

Ron rolled his eyes "how old are you? Five?" he grunted before rolling back over.

Harry sighed "c'mon, Ron!" he shouted nudging him lightly "it's Christmas Eve and it's snowing!"

"I'm awake" Ron moaned "give me a moment"

After getting ready for their day they both met Hermione, who was equally happy about the almost certain white Christmas, and they made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Have you heard?" Fred asked sitting next to Harry.

"Heard what?" Harry asked curiously.

"The Slytherin's and Ravenclaw's that are staying for the holidays have challenged us and the Hufflepuff's to a snowball fight" George grinned sitting opposite Fred.

Ron returned his brothers' grin "they're going down"

"Where about?" Harry asked curiously.

"On the training grounds after breakfast" Fred replied "so eat up, we need all the people we can get"

Hermione rolled her eyes "I'll be sitting out"

"Good idea, Hermione" Ron smirked "we need people that will actually help us win"

Hermione slammed her book down "I know charms to make snowballs quicker!" she shouted.

"Of course you do" Ron said rolling his eyes.

Harry ignored the bickering and began eating his toast, he looked up at the professor's table and quickly noticed Professor Lupin was looking a lot better, he smiled happily knowing Remus was spending Christmas at Hogwarts. Slowly his eyes moved over to Professor Snape, the man was nursing glass of water and staring aimlessly at the ceiling.

After breakfast they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room to prepare for the battle, Harry put on his large coat and wrapped his Gryffindor scarf around himself tightly.

Quickly they began power walking towards the training grounds ready to battle when suddenly Harry started to slow down.

"Harry?" Fred asked looking back.

"I'll catch up, I have to ask Professor Snape something about my detention before I forget" Harry said before taking off in the opposite direction.

"This is getting out of hand" Ron muttered.

"Ron!" Hermione hissed.

. . .

Harry approached the door to Professor Snape's office and suddenly he was nervous, what if the professor was angry Harry had seen something so personal? What if he lashed out? What if he hated him again? Harry stood for a moment contemplating running away.

Quickly his mind flipped back to the time Harry overheard one of Uncle Vernon's phone calls, he had been let go from a job when Harry was only seven and had phoned Aunt Marge to tell her. Harry flinched at the how Uncle Vernon reacted but he quickly shook his head, _this wasn't Uncle Vernon_.

Gently Harry knocked on the door and waited for a response, he fiddled with his fingers nervously at the lack of response. Right as Harry was ready to walk away his professor shouted to come in.

Slowly Harry opened the door and he sighed at the sight of his professor, even though it was Christmas Eve, Snape still seemed to be drowning in paperwork "what are you doing?" Harry blurted out.

Severus rolled his eyes "have you just come down here to quiz me on my schedule, Potter?"

Harry looked down suddenly anxious "I can see you're busy, Professor, I'll go"

Severus shook his head and put his quill down "ignore me, Harry" he sighed "I didn't sleep well, now what can I do for you?"

"I…I just wanted to check that you are okay" Harry muttered.

Professor Snape raised a brow, nobody every checked he was okay, other than Dumbledore after death eater gatherings, and he didn't quite know how to answer.

"Sir?" Harry asked when Snape didn't reply.

"I'm okay, Harry" Severus said simply.

Harry nodded "I won't tell anyone"

"I know you won't" Severus smiled lightly "it can be hard having someone see a situation that made you feel…weak" Severus said carefully.

"I don't think you're weak" Harry frowned.

Severus sighed but didn't reply, he couldn't bring himself to open up how weak he did feel, especially to a student. But he also couldn't afford to put on the emotionless act knowing Harry was likely to copy him if he did.

"As an adult, it's still hard to think back on those memories and feel vulnerable or unsafe" Severus tried to word carefully.

"I feel safe around you" Harry muttered clearly to himself unaware he had said it aloud.

Severus smiled lightly "I can assure you after a glass of mulled wine tonight I'll be fine"

"Okay" Harry smiled.

"Where are you going?" Severus frowned when he noticed Harry was wearing his coat and scarf "this better not be about Hogsmeade again-"

"No, Sir!" Harry said shaking his head "the Slytherin's have arranged a snowball fight"

Severus rolled his eyes "make that a few glasses of mulled wine"

Harry laughed lightly and shrugged "we'll make sure they come back in one piece"

"It's not them I'm worried about" Severus smirked causing Harry to scowl "if you're out playing in the snow, where are your gloves?"

"I…I don't have gloves, Sir" Harry said awkwardly "the Dursley's said I could use my freaky magic to keep warm"

Severus sighed and opened the drawer behind his desk and quickly pulled out a pair of gloves "here" he said passing them to Harry before getting to his feet and making his way over to a cupboard. Within a few seconds he returned with a trapper hat.

"Thanks, Sir" Harry smiled.

"I can't have you freezing to death" Severus grunted.

"I'll bring them back tonight!" Harry said happily.

"Go play outside, Potter" Snape said rolling his eyes at the teen's cheesy grin.

. . .

"Harry" Professor Lupin said taking Harry by surprise as he ran as quickly as he could towards the direction of the screaming.

"Hello, Sir" Harry said simply.

"I'm going shopping, what was on your Christmas list and I'll pick it up" Remus said simply, although he didn't need to buy anything he couldn't help but not want Harry to miss out.

"Really?" Harry said grinning widely.

Quickly he passed Professor Lupin the list and cut out from a jewellery magazine he still had in his pocket and his Professor raised a brow at how much the teen obviously wanted to buy the presents.

"There's only a few things on the list?" Professor Lupin pointed out.

"Ron and Hermione have picked me up a few things already" Harry lied.

"Well I'll have these to you by this evening" Professor Lupin said before leaving.

. . .

Harry charged onto the training grounds to absolute chaos, the houses were out in force and with magic on their sides they had managed to build two massive forts at opposite sides of the grounds with little snow-made areas to hide behind in the 'battle field' as well.

"Duck, Harry!" Fred shouted as Malfoy noticed Harry off guard and took this as an opportunity to levitate a pile of snow in Harry's direction.

Hermione appeared at the top of the fort and after muttering a few words the pile of snow travelled back and slammed into Draco and his henchmen.

"Go, Hermione!" Ron cheered.

"I thought you weren't coming out?" Harry shouted up to Hermione grinning widely.

Hermione smiled shyly "I changed my mind" she said proudly "now get inside!"

Harry quickly made his way up to where Hermione, Ron and the twins stood at the top of the snow fort "what's the plan?" he asked.

"The plan is this, Potter" Wood said catching Harry off guard, he didn't even know Wood was staying for Christmas.

"Duck!" Fred shouted as a group of Slytherin's flew above on brooms as they threw snowballs at them.

They all dove out the way before fighting back causing their enemies to retreat back over the battle field.

"Ginny, myself, Alicia and the twins are all on our brooms, Hermione is our watcher, she keeps the people down there safe" Wood said pointing down to the various groups of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students that were running around and diving out the way as Slytherin attacked once more. "Get on your broom, Harry"

Harry sighed and looked down awkwardly "I'm still not allowed"

Wood rolled his eyes "Snape won't notice and McGonagall is out for the day"

Harry shook his head "Professor Snape trusts me not to, plus Malfoy would tell him"

Wood nodded "good point, maybe you could help Neville?" Wood suggested.

Harry looked down to see Neville lying dramatically in the middle of the pitch "on it" Harry muttered before running down.

"Harry!" Neville called "you need to be careful, Malfoy is out for your blood"

Harry laughed lightly "it's just snow, Neville"

"Not the way Malfoy's throwing it" Neville shivered.

Harry peeked up from behind their snowy wall and managed to hit Goyle right in the back of the head "yes!" he hissed before ducking down again.

"Look!" Neville gasped as Hermione grabbed a large piece of soft snow and dropped it on Malfoy's head.

Harry laughed lightly "Nice one, 'Mione!" he shouted up.

"I'll get them for this" Malfoy muttered to Crabbe who was trying not to snigger

The battle continued on for the next fifteen minutes before Neville got hit in the back of the head and decided to call it quits, Harry sighed to himself realising he was on his own.

"Ron, come help!" Harry shouted up to Ron who was also now in the air flying over Slytherin' to drop various snowballs.

"I'm coming!" Ron shouted before turning and lowering to the ground next to Harry "ouch" he muttered as a snowball hit him on the shoulder.

Harry laughed lightly at his friend's disgust.

"Hey, Potter!" Draco shouted "catch this one!" he said before flicking his wand and sending a snowball straight for Harry's face.

Harry was knocked clean to the ground at the speed of the snowball and for a moment he felt nothing as a dazed feeling washed over his body. Slowly the pain began to set in and he couldn't tell if the snow had melted on his face or if he was bleeding.

"Mate…your face" Ron muttered.

"Too far, Malfoy!" Harry heard Wood shout as he dismounted his broom and stormed over to the Slytherin.

"He asked for that!" Draco hissed.

"You put a rock inside a snowball!" Wood bellowed.

Draco rolled his eyes "he's fine!" he insisted.

"Ron…my face" Harry muttered as he noticed the blood on his hands.

Ron turned around to see Hermione was already half way back to the school to get a professor.

"Everybody inside and go to your common rooms, now!" Dumbledore shouted as he made his way down onto the pitch, Harry could tell by the man's tone alone he was furious.

Quickly Harry was led to the infirmary with the blood still dripping from his face, Madame Pomphrey sighed when she noticed the teen "what have you done now, Potter? Why is it always you?"

"Technically it was Draco" Harry muttered as he sat on the bed.

"Mr Weasley, Miss Granger I think it's time for you to go" Madame Pomphrey said as she approached Harry with a few potions and a trolley filled with utensils.

"It's okay guys, I'll catch up" Harry smiled but Hermione only looked concerned at his friends bloody eyebrow, lip and nose.

Dumbledore made his way into the common room looking completely thunderous.

"Hello Albus" Minerva smiled, she had just got back to the castle and had been lecturing Severus on his lack of Christmas spirit.

"There's been an incident" Dumbledore said, the twinkle gone from his eyes and replaced with anger.

"What's happened?" Minerva asked sitting up "is it Sirius Black?"

Dumbledore shook his head "no, but it is Harry"

"What's happened? Where is he?" Severus asked getting to his feet.

"He's in the infirmary-" Dumbledore began but before he could finish Severus had stormed out the room in the direction of the infirmary.

Severus made his way into the infirmary expecting chaos but he was surprised to find Harry sitting up reading magazines and looking fairly okay.

Harry frowned when he noticed the professor "I'm not meant to be in detention, am I?" he asked concerned by his professors attitude.

Severus shook his head as he made his way over to the teen "I heard you were hurt and I was concerned" he said simply "let me see" he said cupping Harry's face with his hands and tilting his head.

"I'm okay" Harry insisted "Madame Pomphrey healed me and gave me a pain potion, she said I'll be out before dinner"

"It looks painful" Severus said honestly "it must have hurt a fair bit"

Harry shrugged and looked down "well it did….but I've had way worse"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Severus asked.

Again Harry shrugged "there's not a lot to say, although Uncle Vernon mostly used a belt or a cane sometimes he used his fists and that's not too much different to rocks I suppose"

"I will get you out of there, Harry" Severus said seriously "I've not forgotten"

"I know" Harry smiled "but I am fine"

Severus grunted, the teens face was slightly bruised and the cut on his eyebrow was healing fast but it still wasn't good enough "how did this happen?"

"Malfoy" Harry muttered angrily "he threw a snowball with a rock in it"

Severus face turned to a look of pure anger "he'll be punished for this so don't you be taking matters into your own hands" he warned.

"I won't" Harry smiled more to himself than Severus.

"Why are you smiling?" Severus frowned "I'm serious, Potter-"

"I'm not plotting mass revenge!" Harry insisted "I'm smiling because I'm happy you came to visit me"

"Most people would be scared" Severus said relaxing into the chair beside the bed.

Harry smirked and lay down on the bed to face his professor "you don't scare me and I'm not most people"

Severus rolled his eyes "you're right"

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're twice as irritating and twice as much work" Severus smirked.

"But twice as great" Harry yawned and closed his eyes "I don't get why I'm so tired"

"I'm assuming Madame Pomphrey has given you a peace potion to stop you from growing distressed and one of the side effects is tiredness" Severus explained moving the boys hair away from the cut on his eyebrow "once you sleep it off you'll be fine"

"Night, Professor" Harry muttered.

"Night" Severus said simply as the boy fell asleep, sighing he got to his feet and pulled the blankets up further on the teen "you'll be the death of me, Potter" he muttered before leaving the infirmary completely unaware Dumbledore had taken the floo to Madame Pomphrey's office and had heard the entire conversation.

 **Aaaaand we have another chapter! Sorry it took a few weeks but sometimes it just seems to take a while to piece a chapter together but here it is!**

 **I've already started on the next chapter and have a rough idea where I'm going with it so hopefully that will be out within the next few weeks!**


	5. Chapter 5

Christmas morning was peaceful at Hogwarts; the students were still fast asleep as the stars twinkled outside their windows. As the clock struck half past six the only person that was awake was Albus Dumbledore, little did anybody know the older wizard had been awake most of the night contemplating and analysing the conversation he had overheard in the hospital wing the night before.

Throughout the night Albus had analysed ever single detail of Harry Potters life, from the moment he left the child on the Dursley's doorstep to the last time he saw Harry, he thought through his memories looking for any sign of neglect and suddenly they were all there; the clothes that clearly weren't meant for the boy, the fact he came back thinner every year, his defensive attitude and most recently the drinking.

He knew the Dursley's were likely to be harsh towards Harry but neglect had never truly crossed his mind, until over hearing the pain the young teen was obviously facing from his own mouth. He couldn't sit and do nothing anymore. The truth was Albus didn't just deeply care for Harry he had cared for James and Lily too and he knew they would be beyond disgusted at their child being mistreated under his protection.

Albus sighed heavily as he sipped his tea, _had he failed Harry Potter?_ As much as he didn't want to admit it, Severus was right, if he continued the way he was going he would be hurting Harry behind his back and after hearing the words from the teens mouth he needed to do something. Shaking the thoughts from his head he put the mug down on the table and got to his feet, today was Christmas and it was going to be a happy day.

"I'll put this right" Albus mumbled to himself as he vanished the empty mug.

. . .

Gryffindor Tower was peaceful until Ron woke, rubbing his eyes lightly he sat up and was hit with excitement when he realised what day it was "it's Christmas!" he announced before jumping onto Harry's bed and almost knocking them both to the floor.

"Merry Christmas" Harry said rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Ron wasted no time, he quickly scrambled off Harry's bed and crawled under his own before pulling out various Christmas presents "Here's the present I got you" Ron said passing Harry a large box.

Harry grinned widely "let's go downstairs and open them with Hermione"

Quickly they both grabbed their gifts and ran down to the common room where Hermione was already waiting for them patiently having only entered a few moments before.

"Merry Christmas!" Hermione grinned.

"Incoming!" a voice shouted and soon the three of them were covered in snow.

"Fred!" Hermione hissed as the Weasley twins came into sight "what was that?"

"Our Christmas gift to you all" Fred grinned before looking at George to explain more.

"Our latest experiment" George continued puffing his chest out with pride.

"Powder" Fred grinned.

"But…not any powder" George added

"Powder that turns into snow when it makes contact with whatever it's thrown at" Fred explained.

Hermione rolled her eyes "there's real snow outside" she reminded them and they both looked down thoughtfully.

"Well you won't be saying that in June!" they shouted back at her before sitting on the sofa.

"Let's see what mums sent us then" Ron butted in impatiently.

"Wait for me!" Percy shouted.

"What's with all the noise?" Ginny groaned, she had heard her siblings shouting and realised if she didn't get up quickly she would miss the present opening.

After opening their gifts to one another the students sat in the common room content in each other's company. Hermione was already organizing the various books she'd been given and Ron had eaten so many sweets it would be a miracle if he was ever hungry again.

"Where are you going, Harry?" Ron asked after finishing off another of Mrs Weasley's homemade pies.

"I just have to see Professor Snape quickly" Harry said awkwardly.

Ron rolled his eyes "Harry, it's Christmas Day"

"He won't mind" Harry insisted, although at the back of his mind he was doubtful.

"Of course he won't mind" Hermione smiled noticing her friends' uncertainty "go see him, we'll meet you in the hall for breakfast"

"I wonder if they'll let us have cake at breakfast" Ron said grinning widely.

"Haven't you eaten enough?" Hermione sighed.

Harry ran to the dungeons as quickly as he could unsure if the professor would even be there, he wasn't entirely sure how they professors spent Christmas morning. He had always imagined them getting together and drinking mulled wine in Dumbledore's office. Gently he knocked on the door and waited patiently for a reply.

Within seconds Severus answered the door clearly confused by the early caller "is everything alright, Mr Potter?" he asked noticing Harry staring up at him, but he could tell by the twinkle in the teen's eye nothing was wrong.

Harry nodded "Merry Christmas, Sir!" Harry grinned as he followed the professor into his quarters.

"Merry Christmas, Harry" Severus said simply, he had never truly been one for Christmas "how is your face?"

"I think it's completely healed now" Harry said honestly, he had totally forgotten about Draco Malfoy and the brick.

Severus nodded absently and continued to check Harry's face anyway.

"I have something for you" Harry said now looking slightly nervous, what if Snape didn't like his gift? What if he had overstepped the mark?

Severus raised a brow as he sat on the sofa watching curiously as Harry sat next to him.

"If you don't like it I can take it back" Harry said awkwardly.

Snape rolled his eyes "I'm sure I'll love it" he said simply, although the truth was he probably would love it purely because it had come from the boy.

Harry nervously passed his professor the box and he sat back watching eagerly.

Slowly Severus pulled the red ribbon from the small gold package and gently he began tearing away the paper until eventually he was holding a small black box. Carefully he opened the box to reveal a watch, the watch itself was black but the face were the colours of the sky changing from a dark night to the very early morning with faint stars scattered neatly across the watch. Severus ran his finger over the rising sun in the centre that was only just visible between two mountains that blended neatly into to the night sky.

"Harry…"

"I know my mother got you one with a star to remind you of your mother, but I wanted to get you one with the sunrise" Harry began to explain.

"Why's that?" Severus asked curiously as he examined the watch further.

"Because the sunrise means a new day, it's a fresh start so it's a chance to be happy again" Harry said looking down at the watch "the night time stars are a reminder of the ones we love but the sun is a reminder of a new day"

Severus nodded lightly "this is…" he trailed off unable to finish the sentence as he stared at the watch in his hand.

"I can take it back if you don't like it" Harry blurted out.

Severus shook his head "this is the best gift I've ever received"

"Really?" Harry grinned feeling proud of his choice.

Severus nodded "you have absolutely no idea how special this is" he said putting on the watch to admire it on his wrist "thank you very much, Harry"

"You're welcome, Sir!" Harry smiled happily unable to hide how proud he was of himself.

"Now I don't think my gifts will compare" Severus said changing the subject as he got to his feet once more.

"You got me a present?" Harry gasped.

Harry watched with anticipation as his professor left the room, he was truly excited at the idea of an adult that wasn't Mrs Weasley caring enough to get him a gift.

Severus returned carrying various wrapped gifts that he carefully placed in front of Harry "I got you a few things"

"Sir, that's too many" Harry said shaking his head "I honestly don't need to be spoiled" he added.

Severus rolled his eyes "I'm not spoiling you, some are only little things" he reassured the boy who was now looking nervously at the gifts.

Harry quickly began opening the presents and was surprised to discover his professor had bought him jeans, t-shirts and two hoodies that actually fit along with a pair of dark blue converse.

"Awesome!" Harry said as he admired the shoes.

Harry got to the last present and was surprised when he unwrapped a small box, it was black with a small silver handle on the side, he looked at his professor curiously.

Severus cleared his throat "I wasn't sure how you'd react to this, if you don't want it I won't be offended" he said simply as Harry continued to inspect the box.

"What is it?" Harry finally asked.

"Wind it up and then open it" Severus said softly.

Gently Harry began to turn the handle and a small clicking sound broke the silence in the room, after a few moments Harry opened the box and his eyes widened at the sound of someone singing. Although it was a voice he couldn't remember first hand he knew right away it was his mother, this time she sounded slightly older but she still sounded happy. Harry felt a tingle travel throughout his entire body at the familiar feeling he felt at the sound of his mother singing. Although it was a song he had never heard before he felt like he knew the words deep down.

"The recording is from another one of her videos when we were at Hogwarts" Severus explained "but I do remember her singing that to you the few times I passed her at the order meetings, I think it was something she regularly did"

Harry didn't reply, he only closed the box and began to wind it up again as tears trickled down his cheeks. For the first time in his life he felt what it was like to have his mother singing to him and all he could do was cry.

Severus swallowed feeling uncomfortable at how much he had upset the child accidentally "you don't have to keep it if you don't want to-"

The potions master was cut off as the teen put the box down on the table and collided with him.

"Thank you, Sir" Harry said simply "thanks for giving me my mum back"

"She never went away" Severus said holding the teen gently before Harry finally pulled away to examine the box once more.

After excitedly deciding Harry wanted to wear his new clothes now he stepped back into the living room of his professor's quarters looking almost stylish.

Severus looked up from his paper and rolled his eyes at the teen moving his feet into awkward positions to admire the converse "it's an improvement" he said simply as he sipped his coffee and returned his attention to his paper.

"These are my new favourite shoes" Harry replied "I've never had shoes so comfy before"

"I'm glad they seem to be offering you unlimited entertainment" Severus said smirking lightly at the teen who was now frowning back at him.

"Well it'll give me something fun to look at in potions" Harry said grinning widely at his potions professor.

"Maybe I should wear some in class, then you might pay attention" Severus muttered as he flicked the page of his newspaper once more.

Harry nodded "they'd definitely suit you, Sir" he grinned as Severus raised a brow.

"Don't push it, Potter" Severus warned but Harry could tell the man wasn't serious.

"You can't give me detention because it's Christmas" Harry reminded him.

Severus rolled his eyes "I can't give you anymore detentions because you seem to frequent them that often you've ran out of free time" he teased but before Harry could reply there was a knock at the door.

"A Christmas visitor!" Harry announced.

"Behave, Potter" Severus mumbled as he made his way to the door.

Severus quickly opened the door and wasn't surprised to see Albus on the other end of it holding a small box, it had become almost routine that the headmaster visited every Christmas morning before they went to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Merry Christmas, Headmaster" Harry smiled completely oblivious to the headmasters' surprised expression at finding the young Gryffindor in the dungeons on Christmas morning.

Dumbledore smiled warmly at Harry "Merry Christmas, my boy" he said taking in how happy the teen looked, he had obviously put on weight and seemed a lot more engaged "new clothes?" he asked realising the teen wasn't wearing the shabby clothes he normally wore.

Harry nodded happily "Professor Snape got me them" he said proudly.

Dumbledore raised a brow and looked over to the potions master who only shrugged and looked away awkwardly "who knew Professor Snape could be fashionable" he added.

Harry laughed lightly "I'm sure he must wear converse and leather jackets outside school-"

"Okay Potter, that's enough from you" Severus said shoving the boy lightly "off to breakfast"

Harry groaned lightly and picked up the box before making his way towards the door "thanks for the gifts, Sir" he smiled looking up warmly at his professor.

"Thank you, Harry" Severus said as he watched the teen run back towards the stairs "no running in the halls!" he called out.

Harry didn't reply but he did stop running and shake his head lightly and Severus could tell the boy was laughing lightly.

Severus made his way back inside and began pouring hot mulled wine for himself and the headmaster as they sat at the kitchen table, silently Severus watched the older professor until the twinkle in his eye pushed him over the edge "why are you looking at me like that?" he asked bluntly.

Dumbledore smiled "that boy loves you, you know?" he said simply.

Severus scoffed "what kind of observation is that?" he snapped feeling awkwardly defensive "he trusts me because he knows I have his best interests at heart" he added making his accusation known.

Dumbledore frowned as he watched the younger wizard carefully "you know I care about the boy, Severus"

Severus sipped his wine and after a moment of not breaking eye contact he finally spoke "but will you care about him after the war, Albus?" he asked carefully "because the boy who lived will become irrelevant. Will you actually be there for him when you don't need him and the fame wears away? Will you actually bother about him when he's not just an important playing piece in the war and the heroic stories fade?"

"Of course I will" Dumbledore said calmly "the boy means more to me than you believe and I want to put things right"

Severus raised a brow hoping he was getting somewhere "and how do you plan on doing that?"

"I'm already looking into a new home for the boy" Dumbledore said carefully "I don't want him brought up in that environment anymore"

Severus almost choked on his mulled wine with surprise "And who do you suggest?" he asked curiously.

Dumbledore watched the younger wizard curiously for a moment hoping his plan would work, he had decided pretty quickly that Severus was the right person to take the boy in as long as they could sort out a few small details. "What do you think about the Weasley's as possible guardians?" he asked.

To the headmasters delight Severus replied accordingly.

"They have enough on their plate and you'd be risking their own children being targeted by death eaters if you place Harry in their care" Severus butted in.

"Remus Lupin" Dumbledore said boldly deliberately picking out somebody that would irritate the potions master.

Severus laughed lightly "I can see the Daily Prophet headlines now 'The Boy Who Lived to The Boy Who Was Eaten'"

Dumbledore frowned lightly "it's not funny, Severus" he scolded lightly now moving on to an unusual option "I was possibly thinking Hagrid, the boy is safest at Hogwarts anyway"

Severus shook his head "Harry would be killed by a creature or be gallivanting in the Forbidden Forrest by the weekend, plus the boy needs someone that will keep him in line"

Dumbledore shrugged "maybe he'd be best suited with someone in the private care system"

One again Severus shook his head and rolled his eyes, did Dumbledore know his golden boy at all? "The boy is fragile so he needs somebody that he trusts, somebody that he is close with and knows how to handle the night terrors and the mood swings, preferably somebody that understands abuse"

Dumbledore smiled lightly at his colleague as he clasped his hands together "you've just described yourself, Severus"

Severus scoffed and took another sip of mulled wine "even though I am the best option you would never trust me to care for your golden boy" he said before meeting the headmasters eyes once more "you're serious, aren't you?" he finally asked breaking the silence in the room.

Dumbledore nodded "don't say anything to the boy because I want you to take some time to properly think things through"

"What about The Dark Lord and the death eaters?" Severus asked cautiously "the death eaters are growing in numbers steadily and the meetings are more frequent"

Dumbledore nodded "we wouldn't allow it to be public knowledge and we can work out the details later"

Severus nodded "and what if Harry says he doesn't want to live with me?" he asked unable to keep the fear of rejection from his voice.

Dumbledore smiled "by the looks of it the first thing he did today was come to visit you, he cares about you more than you think"

Severus smiled but didn't reply, he only sipped his mulled wine quietly.

"Plus he practically lives in your quarters anyway" Dumbledore teased causing the potions master to scoff lightly.

. . .

Christmas breakfast in The Great Hall was a peaceful affair, the students all huddled together at the Gryffindor table while the various professors continued to come and go from the top table. The Headmaster had decided Christmas breakfast wouldn't be a formal affair and would instead be relaxed and casual.

"I can't believe so many people stayed this year" Harry admitted looking around the hall, although it was far from full there were around twenty-five students.

Neville smiled warmly "my gran reckons everyone should experience a Christmas at Hogwarts once, just because it's so magical"

"I don't think I can imagine spending Christmas anywhere else" Harry said almost to himself as he looked around the room.

A few Hufflepuff's had joined the Gryffindor table since it was quiet causing Oliver Wood to keep his quidditch tactics to a bare whisper as he chatted with Fred and George even though it was Christmas Day. Harry looked up at the teachers table to see Professor McGonagall had arrived and was chuckling lightly at Hagrid's Christmas elf hat.

"Did you hear about Malfoy?" Fred whispered and they all shook their heads turning to find out more.

Ron frowned lightly "I noticed he missing"

"Dumbledore sent him home for the rest of the holidays, apparently he kicked up a right fuss" Fred said smirking lightly.

"Lucius Malfoy picked him up last night and he looked ready to kill" George continued.

Ron rolled his eyes "well let's just hope he does kill Draco"

"Ron!" Hermione hissed.

"Come off it Hermione, he's a right git" Ron muttered.

"Let's go outside" Harry butted in when he noticed Hermione's glare, after the ongoing battle over their disobedient pets Harry was worried the slightest look might set one of them off and it was Christmas Day.

. . .

Christmas Dinner at Hogwarts seemed extra impressive this year, there were more students so a bigger variety of food and all the students that had stayed had spent the day together playing in the snow. The teachers also seemed rather merry after a few glasses of wine, except for Snape who was looking completely uninterested in Christmas dinner.

"Here's your hat, Severus" Dumbledore chuckled as he passed Severus the Santa hat from the cracker.

"Get that thing away from me" Severus glared causing the other professors to laugh lightly at Snape's expense.

"C'mon my boy, it's Christmas" Dumbledore insisted.

Severus shook his head "absolute not"

Dumbledore chuckled lightly "what if we swap? You can have the antlers?"

Severus glared back at Dumbledore but was quickly distracted when he noticed the students watching him expectantly, part of him wanted to throw the hat at them but it was Christmas and if he was being honest he wasn't in that bad a mood.

"Give me the antlers" Severus demanded causing Dumbledore to laugh excitedly.

The students all laughed lightly at the potions master who quickly went back to ignoring their presence and drinking mulled wine.

After less than a minute Severus ripped the antlers off and grew distracted as he watched Harry. The teen definitely had a glow about him that he didn't have a few months ago as he talked happily with his friends and although he couldn't take full responsibility for the boys improvement he knew it was partly due to him. In that moment Severus knew Harry had to stay with him, that the boy belonged with him.

"What are you smiling at?" Dumbledore asked him suddenly.

Severus glared at the headmaster "I'm not smiling" he snapped before turning his attention back Harry realising the boy wasn't the only one who'd grown over the past few months.

. . .

Quickly Christmas had come and gone and before Harry knew it he was facing his last detention with Professor Snape, the man had been strangely quiet all day and hadn't kicked the twins out the Great Hall when they were clearly up to something.

Gently Harry knocked on the classroom door and he entered when Snape called out instantly, Harry closed the door behind him and turned his attention to his professor. Snape was sitting at his desk reading through various pieces of parchment but he looked tense.

"Sir?" Harry asked expecting to be given something to do, or hopefully told something about his mother.

Severus waved his hand towards the seat at the other end of the desk "sit down" he said simply.

Harry nodded and made his way over to the seat but he didn't take his eyes off his professor "are you okay, sir?" he finally asked.

"I've been talking to the headmaster" Severus said simply.

"Am I in trouble?" Harry asked warily.

Severus shook his head "no, for once" he said simply.

Harry watched his professor curiously, suddenly thoughts of Voldemort and Sirius Black began to flood his mind "it's Black, isn't it?" he asked but his voice was small.

Severus shook his head.

"Voldemort?" Harry gulped, that was even worse.

"Don't say his name" Severus sighed "it's nothing to do with them"

Harry looked even more lost as he watched his professor "if it's not them then I don't know what it is"

"I've been talking to the headmaster about your current guardians and he's finally decided to see sense and agrees you shouldn't stay at the Dursley's any longer" Severus said simply.

Harry gasped lightly, was he hearing things?

"Harry, are you listening?" Snape asked when Harry only continued to stare at the wall.

"No…yes…I'm listening" Harry said nodding quickly.

Severus rolled his eyes "we want you to have a say in where you want to stay and who you want to be your guardian" he continued "we have a few ideas but we want it to be somebody you feel safe with and somebody that will give you the home you need"

Harry shrugged, he didn't really know anybody other than the Weasley's and as much as he loved them he knew another child, especially one that was likely to help Ron and the twins continue to get into trouble, was a bad idea.

"I don't know, Sir" Harry shrugged; part of him wished he could just stay at Hogwarts with Snape but he knew he'd be told no.

"There isn't a single person you can think of?" Snape asked raising a brow, he didn't know what answer he had expected from the boy but it wasn't such uncertainty.

"I don't think anybody would really want me, I come with a lot of baggage" Harry said simply.

Severus cleared his throat and after a moment of watching the teen he finally spoke "how would you feel about being placed under my care?" he asked.

Harry looked up suddenly "for real?" he asked.

Snape nodded "only if that is something you would want" he reassured the teen.

"And Dumbledore said that was okay?" Harry asked cautiously.

"He thinks it's a good option" Severus said simply, he didn't want Harry to base his decision on the headmasters' opinion.

"And you would want to?" Harry asked cautiously.

Again Severus nodded "of course" he said simply.

At the professors words Harry became lost in thought, finally he had a person that cared as unlikely as that person first seemed.

"Harry?" Severus asked.

"Okay" Harry said smiling up at his professor.

"Okay?" Severus repeated raising a brow.

"I want you to be my guardian" Harry said still smiling "I want to stay with you"

Severus couldn't help but smile after finally hearing the words from the teens mouth "I'm glad" he said simply as he felt a huge weight lift from not just Harry's shoulders but his own, he had managed to keep his promise.

 **Yaaaaay! Finally a new chapter! Guys, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update, in the end I needed a massive break from writing to focus on a lot of issues I'm going through right now. Although all the issues are still there I wanted to finish this chapter and make sure you all know I've not forgotten about this or my other fic.**

 **If you also read An Unlikely Family, a new chapter will hopefully be coming soon and I am using some of the suggestions you guys have given me for what will happen next so stay tuned!**

 **Take care and I'll see you all for a new chapter soon!**


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